Visiting Costa Rica always changes my perspective on many day to day things when I return to the States and our life here.  A while ago I wrote a blog post titled “Walking Around the World in Flip Flops” in that post I referred back to one of our first visits to Costa Rica about a decade ago. That visit set the stage and planted the seeds for what eventually became a major shift in how we decided to view and live life.

Most of our conversations in Costa Rica last week were centered around how to continue simplifying our life so that we can take advantage of opportunities as they arrive. Keeping our living expenses low and not having a lot of things to take care of it makes it easier to live more spontaneous and seize the day and the joy that it offers. Every time I visit Costa Rica, I want to go home and purge my belongings.

Our heads are filled with new business ideas, and old ones that have been on the back burner for a while. We are both feeling a surge to resurrect some ideas that have gotten dusty over the past couple years. It’s amazing how a few days in a treehouse in the jungle can renew and refresh our thought life.

Looking back and thinking about our conversation with Jordy the other day. (Jordy is a nineteen year old Costa Rican surf instructor that we have become friends with) Here is a guy that “gets it”. He said, “I have a car, because I need a car to get to work. I have a phone, because I need to have a way for my customers to reach me. Beyond having a place to live and eat, what else do I need?”  he also told us about how he is questioned extensively by immigration officials when he visits the United States. They want to make sure he is not trying to stay here. He tells them “believe me, I have everything I need in my country, a job I love, surfing and teaching, my needs are met, why would I want to leave that?” He said he has American friends that are always striving for a newer car, house, phone, or fill in the blank… And he does not understand the draw to such things. How satisfying it must be to live with such contentment. 

I am taking some time this week to trim out some things in my life. Removing the unnecessary clutter that distracts me from my real life goals.  I am going through every area of my life and trimming out what takes away from the joy of my life. Streamlining my days with only the necessary workflow, will give me more time with my family and friends. If something can be done in three steps, but it is currently taking me six steps, then I am changing it.

For instance, the past three years I have been receiving and sending emails from three different devices (phone, computer and laptop). This means when I have to find an email that was sent, I have to search every device. Sean (my wonderful husband, who is so patient with anything technical) set up a new email program syncing all of my devices together. Now I can pinpoint an email in seconds rather that several minutes or even hours if it was really buried.

From simplifying the apps on my phone, to my job’s workflow, to purging my closet, choosing only the work I enjoy, going only to meetings and events that I really want to be at. We all have these choices in our lives everyday. Only you can decide how you spend your time and energy.

As I am going through every area and item in my life, I ask myself “Does this add to or subtract from the joy and peace that I desire, does it bring contentment?” If it doesn’t add to it then I am changing it.

An example I can share is in my photography and workflow. For years and years I carried several camera bodies and lenses with me to every job I shot. Because that’s what photographers are supposed to do, right? Have the latest and greatest gear, and tons of it. I had a 3,000 square foot studio filled with props, chairs and sofas. Backdrops in every color, print and pattern imaginable. When we decided to trade all of that in for a natural studio at the beach, I still kept all that camera gear and lugged it onto the beach for portrait sessions and weddings. However, beach shooting is far different from a clean enclosed studio environment. Sand and salt from just living at the ocean will etch itself into the sensor and mirror inside the camera. This will cause spots in the images that have to be removed one at a time by hand in Photoshop. For every hour of shooting, there were 3-4 hours of sitting at the computer cleaning images. I found the solution last year when I simplified my gear. I no longer carry the 15-20 pound gear bag filled with thousands of dollars of Canon bodies and lenses. I have opted for newer technology in a small, lesser known brand, fully enclosed camera, that salt and sand cannot enter. Most people, even trained professional photographers could not tell that these images were not shot with a sacred Canon or Nikon. I had to think about my ultimate goal, and that is to tell my clients’ stories, but I don’t feel that should make me a slave to my computer. My goal was not to impress other photographers with the gear I was shooting with. I began to focus (pun intended) on telling the stories of my clients, not the technical aspects that so often entangles many photographers.

Where do you find contentment? Is it in material belongings, job satisfaction, relationships, family, community, self esteem, location, spirituality, artistic or other self expression? I think it is a blend of the above but the more I build into my life from the later part of the list,  material possessions is not as great of a need or desire in my life.

Can you remove a distraction from your life today? It might be as simple as removing apps from your phone, organizing your closet or getting rid of clutter. It could be saying “No” to pointless meetings, people that boss you around, or driving your kids to fifteen various events every week. Ask yourself, if it adds or subtracts to your joy and contentment and you’ll know what to do.