Sometimes I think there are two different people living in my head in regard to stuff. There is the massive-yarn-stash and weaving-tools-collecting Rebecca and there is the woman who can head out for a month-long backpacking trip with 15 total pounds of gear (plus food and water of course) and be totally happy with the items in my pack.
I have a decision to make about an upcoming residency at Hambidge. I have been saying for months that I was going to drive to Georgia as The Hambidge Center is a difficult place to be without a car. But if I'm totally honest, the real reason I wanted to drive was because I could fill my little Subaru with ALL the tools. I could bring my spinning wheel and boxes of yarn and all the drawing materials I wanted. I could bring my hot pot and a folding chair and my yoga mat and even my favorite foods. It was about the stuff.
I was forced to sit down and look at the logistics of this trip recently and realized that it is a 24 hour drive from Colorado to western Georgia. Somehow the reality of twenty-four hours on the road had not been part of that stuff-linked equation. For me as a solo driver, that means three days.
each.
way.
There is no way I could manage that kind of drive in two by myself. Which means that we're talking about a full week of driving (once I justify it to myself by stopping at an art museum somewhere in the middle).
Recently I watched the documentary Minimalism and then read Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus's book, Everything that Remains. I recommend the documentary (which I watched on Netflix). Minimalism isn't something that is new to me, but the timing of this film along with a desire to simplify my studio and life in general is definitely a theme this year. And this trip to Georgia was something that needed simplifying especially considering the massive volume of teaching trips stacked up behind that residency.
So on a long head-clearing hike last weekend I thought about what I wanted to accomplish at this residency and what materials I would need to do that. And I realized all I needed was a suitcase or two and a rental car. Six days of driving is out. The spinning wheel is not necessary when a drop spindle fits in my knitting bag.
I'm flying.
(I do believe that is Boulder down there)