修车大队

In 2003, Dee Williams was a classic slacktivist. She says so herself. Yes, she was passionate about social justice and environmental issues, but she spent most of her free time driving back and forth to Lowe鈥檚 and Home Depot for materials to remodel her three-bedroom house in Portland, Oregon. 鈥淚 would feel like a grand national champion because I鈥檇 found a great parking space, or gotten a really great deal on a piece of plywood.鈥�

Then events conspired to deal out a dose of humility.

She went to Guatemala and helped build a school, a friend鈥檚 emails from Uganda brought news of malaria and hungry children, and a very dear friend got cancer. It made her remodeling concerns seem trivial.

鈥淗e was getting sicker and sicker, and I didn鈥檛 have the time or the money to really throw myself into helping him. I was spending a lot of time and money on my house. So the house was the easiest thing to try to get rid of.鈥�

In 2004, Williams sold her bungalow, shedding a mortgage payment of over $1,000 per month, and bought plans for an 84-square-foot house on wheels. It cost her $10,000 to build, a quarter of which went for photovoltaic panels that generate her electricity. Now her house is paid for, and her monthly bills total about $8鈥攆or heating.

鈥淭he more intentional you are in your choices, the more every change makes room for more changes.鈥�

Even with the economic freedom she gained, it wasn鈥檛 easy to leave her house. 鈥淚 loved my house and I liked my community in Portland.鈥� And she knew that day-to-day life in the tiny house would be very different. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to have to carry water, I鈥檓 going to have to deal with my compost toilet , find a place to shower.鈥�

鈥淚t was scary,鈥� she admits. 鈥淏ut I also felt like, God! This is so cool!鈥�

Leaving her stuff behind was not that hard for Williams. It was liberating. She got rid of photos, old love letters, her college letter jacket鈥斺�渁ll that crap that you have because it reminds you of who you used to be.鈥� Her friends and family have quit giving her things for Christmas , she says, 鈥渦nless I get some kind of, you know, short fork!鈥� She allows herself to own no more than 300 items, and she keeps careful count. 鈥淣ot because I have obsessive-compulsive disorder,鈥� she laughs, but because she once bet a friend that she had less stuff than he did. She鈥檚 kept count ever since.

The hardest part of her drastic downsizing, Williams says, was the loss of autonomy. 鈥淚 moved into somebody else鈥檚 backyard, which felt a little bit like the kind of thing a 25-year-old would do, not a 40-year-old. That鈥檚 been the biggest area of growth for me鈥攍iving in a small house in somebody鈥檚 backyard and having to ask for water.鈥� But it鈥檚 okay, she says. It鈥檚 brought her into closer relationship with her neighbors. 鈥淭he neighbors on this side,鈥� she says, pointing to the east, 鈥淚 helped them build a French drain last year. The neighbors on the other side, I built them a chicken coop. It鈥檚 easier to participate when you鈥檝e got more time.鈥�

The big gain, though, was the gift of living intentionally. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a jazz-up,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he more intentional you are in your choices, the more every change makes room for more changes. It doesn鈥檛 make me feel bad about myself. I just love that there鈥檚 this endless potential. To see that you have this power. You get to choose what you want. That鈥檚 been cool.鈥�

So what will Williams choose next?

She鈥檚 thinking of downsizing to a gypsy wagon that wouldn鈥檛 have the sleeping loft, 鈥渙nly because sometimes I feel like that鈥檚 a lot of wasted space鈥攁nd I鈥檇 have a lower heating bill, greater economy of space. And I鈥檇 be just as happy in a smaller space.鈥�

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Carol Estes is a former managing editor and contributing editor at 修车大队 and is the founder of University Beyond Bars.

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