St.John, Virgin Islands and Martha's Vineyard Wedding Photographer-Greer Rivera's BLOG

Life

12.11.2009

I'm a believer that less is more.

Growing up we moved out of our house every summer to rent it out weekly so my mom could pay the mortgage. I sorted through everything I owned every year and got rid of anything that was unnecessary so the following year there would be less stuff to sort and move. My friends never understood how I could do this..but I never understood how they could have art projects from 2nd grade hidden in the back of their closets!

As I got older and moved out of the house for good, I came to realize that the experience of renting the house and moving every year made me better. It made me care less about the materialistic things and made me love being clutter free.

Don't get me wrong, I love my gadgets but I have only as much as I
need. As soon as a piece of clothing is ripped, stained or outgrown I donate it. Immediately. I want all unecessary things out of my life and I hate waste. If I haven't worn or used something for a year, why am I storing it still when someone else could be using it?

I also move back to Martha's Vineyard every summer and bring ALL my belongings (plus my dog) with me each time I travel back and forth. I can not afford to bring very much with me, do you even know how much they're charging for a second bag, nevermind the overweight ones?!

Although I have tried to limit myself in recent years with how much I buy and keep, I still find myself with so much JUNK! I recently read the book it's all too much by Peter Walsh.
It made me want to get rid of all my belongings and move to an
abandoned island! I know, I know most people think that is my life but I sometimes wonder how nice it would be to have nothing.. no phone, internet, grocery stores...

While living on islands my whole life has helped with the simplified lifestyle I'm hoping to achieve I still want it to be a little slower.
To try to obtain this I recently closed 4 of the 6 bank accounts I had, cancelled subscriptions to all the magazines I don't have time to read, went through all my belongings to see what I could give away and I'm finding at least an hour a day to bring Lucca to the beach and forget the stress of life.

With Christmas right around the corner, I'm trying to think what I can get friends and family members that is better than all the crap I've given in recent years. Enough of the scented candles and the body spray... I think i've given and received enough junk for one lifetime, enough already!

I can not think of one materialistic thing I want for Christmas.
I think I'll just spend the day laying on a beach somewhere listening to the waves.

Good company and the simple joys of life will be enough.

My simple joys are watching Lucca run as fast as she can on the beach with her toungue hanging out the side of her mouth, listening to the palms sway in the breeze, going for a hike first thing in the morning, listening to a 5 yr old read a book, floating on my back in the ocean, finishing a really good book and taking lots and lots of photos... Just to name a few.

What are some of your simple joys?

I don't always have my big camera on me at all times but here are a few photos I've taken over the past couple months with my iPhone.

(All photos taken with the iPhone using The Best Camera app)

(I know lots of photos of the dogs, but I do spend a lot of time with them!)

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