Minimalist Living

I love simplicity. Love it.

Love people that help me achieve it in my life. Thank you Sam, James, Thoreau, and to my FedEx affectionally called the

Make it Happen Wagon.

To give a quick intro, this is a video that coins the phase Less is More and is a great intro to anyone interested in editing their life to remove the unnecessary.

How long have we as a human race lived on this earth? Maybe 200,000 years give or take a few thousand? And all this time we’ve been able to survive on homes that are made from animal hides, mud, and trees…. until recently. Kind of amazing really. Yet how is it that we have advanced so far with technological advances, but yet still struggle to provide a basic living structure at a cheaper cost. We’ve done it with food, clothing…. but shelter seems to continue to rise and rise and rise. After starting to read Thoreau’s Walden (given to me by my fellow tech nomad) I have started to have some interesting viewpoints.

1: Bought with Wasted Memories

How much life is your dwelling worth? How many missed moments and memories is a granite counter top actually worth to you? How much time are you willing to spend on things you don’t want to do in order to buy the things you don’t even need, which you keep in a house you hardly spend time in because you are out working?

A little dramatic? Perhaps. But honestly when did you sit down and think through the thought process that made you want to buy a home that will take you anywhere from 15-30 years to pay back?

While in Peru (serving an LDS mission) I had the opportunity to engage in acts of service. One of which was helping build a families home. 12 young men came together, and after A SINGLE DAY we had her house built. ONE DAY! Granted it was no masterpiece, but still, she had what she viewed as necessary for her shelter after a single day of building. Amazing.

Imagine what you could do with the time you’d save if you didn’t HAVE to buy that house? And you honestly don’t! Thoreau’s view was something like this:

Most men appeared to never have considered what a house is, and are actually so needlessly poor all their lives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have.


I have long felt the need to live more simply. To eradicate that which I do not need in exchange for the time to do as I please. The pursuits of my soul mean more to me than the material status placed upon me by a social contract that I never agreed to sign, but still am expected to maintain.

I hope to have achieved my own independence from this social bondage through completion of my own living structure that I started working on this summer. It is a tiny house built inside of a FedEx truck I so lovingly call the Make it Happen Wagon. If you ever have questions on how to simplify your life or just want to talk feel free to shoot me an email: johndangerstorey@gmail.com

Live Small.


Now read this

Books I’ve Read

(work in progress) Here are the books I’ve read and what what I think about each one: Being George Washington: Biography - Beck Didn’t really like Beck’s personality, found a few things interesting about George Washington’s life, but it... Continue →