Imagine waking up one morning and realizing your entire life has been simplified to fit into the trunk of your car?

What possessions would you disregard?

Off the top of your head, what three items could you not part with?

Would you focus on items that held sentimental value?

Perhaps the focus may become possessions you felt you needed?

Could your emotional attachment to a personal item turn a WANT into a NEED?

When does a WANT become a NEED?

How does one determine the difference between a WANT, NEED, and NECESSITY?

As I unloaded my trunk and carried my refined life into my new home I realized most of my chosen items fit into all three categories. Based on the criteria of wants, needs, and necessity; I have decided to re-classify these items as LIFE REQUIREMENTS.

My tent is a want, need, and necessity.

My hiking shoes are a want, need, and necessity.

My computer is a want, need, and necessity.

My phone is a want, need, and necessity.

My camera is a want, need, and necessity.

Considering the remoteness of the area I am now living in, I knew I would be spending a lot of time in the outdoors. A tent for shelter and good hiking shoes for my flat feet are life requirements in my world. Plantar fasciitis is not fun when you find yourself on crutches and using a toilet plunger to put downward pressure on the gas pedal. My feet want, need, and demand good shoes. My phone is essential out here. I am not a hermit and need to maintain my friendships and relationships with the outside world.

Who knew WhatsApp would be so instrumental in maintaining contact with my friends abroad.

With the nearest bank 2 hours away, my decision to join the online banking community was a necessity. Simple Bank has been a blessing for me. https://www.simple.com/

I love the fact I can upload a picture of my paycheck and I can see the transaction immediately. Better still, a customer service representative always answers the phone. Not one time have I ever found myself on hold. No scripted false friendly dialogue, just a friendly willing voice on the other end of the line wanting to assist me.

My camera allows me to captures moments and experiences that I can later share with the planet via social media.

My computer is like my intellectual and emotional suitcase. It stores my captured memories, my favorite music, and allows me to stay in touch with friends while living remotely. My computer is the first one who gets to read my blog as I type, and is the last one I put to sleep late at night.

WANTS

I feel WANT’S at times tend to be more consumer driven. Having the big house, expensive cars, designer clothes, drinking boutique booze and eating fancy foods at times, can define us. WANTS can create a false identity that belongs more to the brand loyalty than the person billboarding it.

WANTS can be short-term temporary void fillers. In my late 20’s, I feel I purchased WANTS to help medicate my lack of needs being met. In the short term, a new purchase of WANT left me with a sense of excitement and happiness that my regular daily life did not offer. The reality was; I was not living intentionally, I was merely surviving. No amount of consumerism was ever going to make me happy!

After unpacking my possessions and settling into my new home, I found myself lying on my bed and thinking what was I missing? I had the Vermilion Cliffs behind my house, access to miles of hiking trails, a roof over my head, and a dog who adores me.

What else could I possibly require in order to be content out here? The answer became very clear after having no internet for over a month. I think this comical updated version of  Maslow’s  Hierarchy of  Needs says it all for me.

Living remotely, I am wi-fi dependent. WiFi is now deemed a life requirement, Internet access is a want, need, and necessity. Gone are the days when I had unlimited internet access.

I am now a hotspot owner, and I pay $100 a month for ten gigs of data. This means I no longer take internet data for granted. I now treat internet data like water, it’s a commodity. I now use only what is needed, and my days watching Louie Theroux specials and John Pilger documentaries online are now over.

Technology can disconnect society as much as it can reconnect us. One month without the internet helped me redefine my relationship with social media. I find myself only online if it serves a purpose, as opposed to just surfing and reading through random news articles.

Prior to moving to Vermilion Cliffs, I was more interested in filming than writing. I would rather film an interview than write about one.

This is what made radio so easy for me.

Writing is something I have never enjoyed. Even when preparing and writing questions for video interviews; my handwriting is a form of shorthand only I could decipher.

These days blogging has become a life requirement, I want to do it, I need to do it, and I feel like it’s a necessity in order to help me process some of my relentless thoughts on life.