Hope lives in a tiny house: a tiny story

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This week, a tiny story arising from some deep thoughts that came to me one morning recently as I looked around the house filled with so many things so important to me. Really? Important? Or just habit? 

One day, one day soon, maybe, I'll test my resolve to sort, chuck, donate. 

One day. 

Maybe soon... 

Maybe...


Hope lives in a tiny house

With less space to lose herself in,
she wondered whether she might inhabit her life more.
Day after day,
she watched the sun rise,
drank coffee from the same mug,
wore the same clothes
and,
slowly,
discovered
that living small
was enlarging her sense
of self,
of wonder,
of peace.


............................................................................................................................................

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Land acknowledgement: I respectfully recognize that I live on the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.

Comments

  1. DanielleMay 5, 2026 at 5:37 AM

    Beautiful !

    ReplyDelete
  2. Celia ChandlerMay 5, 2026 at 5:56 AM

    yes! living small requires economy of everything -- even words!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 5, 2026 at 8:16 AM

    ❤️
    I often wonder what I’d actually need if I lived all alone. Windows and wilderness would be my main needs. The rest…I’m not sure. Somewhere comfortable to sleep and sit, a laptop, a bookshelf, two cats, and enough counter to make dough. 😃 Jenn

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 5, 2026 at 9:34 AM

    Living small is enlarging - how true - don’t get lost in the clutter, moving anxiously from one thing to another.

    ReplyDelete
  5. sMay 5, 2026 at 10:34 AM

    Ahh, I wish my mother would have adopted this mindset, 'she might inhabit her life more'. Small words with big meaning. A wonderful piece. Thank you Amanda

    ReplyDelete
  6. Barbara AnneMay 5, 2026 at 1:47 PM

    It's lovely, I can really appreciate the brevity and beauty of living small but I decorate, as someone said, like an Egyptian king planning for his afterlife. I do love my stuff and home is where I keep it. If I started over I could keep it small for about a week and then things would creep their way in because I love them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Steven OettingMay 5, 2026 at 6:59 PM

    Tiny but sweet and full of hope. I am learning to live small. I had a garage but it wasn't enough, so I built a second one. It wasn't enough, so I built a shed. It wasn't enough, so I filled my basement. But now I am slowly working in reverse, as you said, sorting, chucking, donating, trying to deal with my hoarding illness.

    ReplyDelete

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