Creativity Action Service Journal: Simple Life

After having that conversation with the old man, who is to remain nameless, I realized all the materialistic items I have in my life today are unnecessary. The man lived in a "house" that comprised of a variety of sticks and cardboard nailed together with scrap pieces of tin. The sticks made up the frame of the wall and the cardboard was the area of the wall. This wall served as the support system for the entire make up of his living area. He had found a large piece of black plastic that served as his roof and hung over his bed. As the conversation began and continued he never seemed to talk about his personal belongings or his living area. I would imagine that would be a likely topic considering he was to move into his new house that day. He simply shared his wisdom about different themes or interest that he possessed.
His standard of living didn't necessarily culture shock me into giving all my unnecessary items away, but it made me reconsider what qualifies as something I "need." As a child, as most children do, I would ask my mom if I could have a toy or something new to play with and the question was always asked if I needed it or not. I would say yes and how I couldn't live without that toy. Now, a silly little toy seems less of a worldly need then clean drinking water, shelter, or food.
Going into the conversation I had no expectations about what I was about to hear, but this is one conversation that changed my life for the better.