The Bare Necessities

Movies for children often hold simple, yet very important lessons that we seem to forget once we become adults in this big and too complicated of a world. I refuse to lose my inner child and I hope you do too.

“Growing old is mandatory, but growing UP is optional.” — Walt Disney

I recently went to see The Jungle Book in theaters (by myself per usual) and got goosebumps at the beautiful simplicity of the messages throughout this old favorite of mine. Watching this movie felt like my life up until this point had come full circle.

The part that tied all the loose ends together for me was the Bear (Bare) Necessities song by Baloo the bear and Mogley.

“Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities, forget about your worries and your strife. I mean the bare necessities, Old Mother Nature’s recipes, that bring the bare necessities of life.

My journey with minimalism is going better than ever. At this point, I have given away about 75% of my possessions from what I owned previously. If it doesn’t add value to my life, I give it away so it can add value to others. I do not want to be attached to items. I aim to create more and consume less.

I have simplified my diet to ‘Mother Nature’s Recipes’ aka raw foods and mostly raw fresh fruit. I believe fruit is nature’s most perfect food and that our optimal diet is a fruitarian one.

Think about it, what other food in nature is appealing to the eyes, ready to eat in its raw natural state, and completely satisfying by itself? If out in nature would you be drawn to a bunch of bananas from the tree or a field of grass? Would you salivate over fresh purple grapes or road kill like the actual carnivores do? It takes no social conditioning to love fruit.

Fruits need no spices or cooking (killing nutrients) for taste or safety. They digest the fastest and take no effort to be absorbed. Fruits are nourishing, sweet, and incredibly nutrient-dense with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty-acids, protein and high water content.

Fruits lift me up instead of weighing me down. I eat as much as I want until I feel full, no portions, and no number crunching. Simple. Simple. Simple. Plus I can dance around while I eat them in total bliss like Mogley and Baloo.

Wherever I wander, wherever I roam, I couldn’t be fonder of my big home.

I plan on wandering and roaming around the country in my 1992 Chevy Conversion Van named Buddy in a few months. I’ll be doing this with only the bare necessities in tow. I’ll become a part of van life simply eating fruit, exploring nature, writing, volunteering, and anything else I enjoy at the time. I have removed everything from the van including the television, microwave, and refrigerator that it came with. I won’t be homeless, simply ‘house-less’. My big ‘home’ will be wherever I choose to be.

The bare necessities of life will come to you, they’ll come to you.

Since I began mostly eating raw food, it has come to me in abundance. I believe in the law of attraction. We don’t need to know exactly how the Universe is going to send us what we desire, we just have to believe that it will happen. Everything we seek, is seeking us in return. Simple. The more I’ve simplified my life, the easier it has gotten along the way. I am healthier, happier, more inspired, and think clearer than ever before.

Oh man this is really livin, so just try and relax, yeah cool it. Fall apart in my backyard cause let me tell you something little britches. If you act like that bee acts, uh uh, your workin too hard.

I’ve been meditating more than ever and I no longer worry about the things I can’t help. I love myself more and have stopped thinking so hard and over-analyzing everything. Now, if it feels right, I do it. I go with the flow. If it feels wrong, I don’t think about it anymore and walk away. I don’t do things to keep myself ‘busy’. I don’t believe in busy anymore. I believe in helping and creating. Simplicity is really livin’ — not today’s overstimulated, overworked, and forgetful way of life.

“Why worry? If you’ve done the very best you can, worrying won’t make it any better.” — Walt Disney

And don’t spend your time lookin around for something that can’t be found.

I used to be the type of person who was always looking outside of myself for happiness, acceptance, and a sense of ‘worth’. Simplifying my life has forced me to look within instead and love my true self. I will not be a slave of desire controlled by the things I only think I need.

When you find out you can live without it. And go along not thinkin about it. I’ll tell you something true. The bare necessities of life will come to you.”

I may not be half-naked running around the jungle eating fruit like Mogley (yet).

But I can tell you that trying to get down to the bare necessities is changing my life in the best way, every day.

And yes, I’m different, but in a good way.

So yeah, going to see this movie hit me in the heart.