Glamorous Hollywood vs Rural Oregon

I just read this article on CNN chronicling several families who have had to cope with job loss due to the current economic crisis.

One couple in particular really caught my eye and got me thinking. Leah Bird and Ed Wright used to live a comfortable and glamorous lifestyle in Beverly Hills, much like my own, eating at fancy restaurants and spending time at the beach. After Ed lost his job managing insurance portfolios for the wealthy, the couple was forced to move to Oregon and live out of a trailer they purchased on Craigslist. They’ve since learned to tend to the land and look after animals who share that land. Leah has acquired a simple office assistant job in town, taking a $15,000 pay cut.

Their lifestyle has completely changed, a worst nightmare for most of us. But here’s the thing: Ed and Leah love it! When asked if they would move back to LA given the chance, Ed said “Not unless they offered me a great paying job,” Wright said. “But even then, I would work a few years, quit and then come back here.”

Interesting! Anyone with a brain knows that money does not equal happiness. I know this more than anyone.

Leah & Ed’s situation reminds me of myself – minus the unemployment, thankfully. I’ve been living a somewhat luxurious lifestyle in Los Angeles/Hollywood for going on three years now. I’m by no means rich, I have to budget myself and am living paycheck-to-paycheck, but I am making more than enough money to get by.

I have a brand new car (a reliable, gas-saving Honda Civic, which I desperately needed), a beautiful apartment (that I pay a pretty penny for), and am able to eat, cloth myself, get premium cable, and go out with my friends when I want to. I’d say I’m doing a lot better than the majority of people in America right now. Are these luxuries worth the stress that comes with living in a big city? Would I be better off living a more simple lifestyle?

Sure, I’m content. But I’m not blissfully happy. I have frequent fits of homesickness (almost my entire family is back in Virginia). I’m single, and have fabulous friends in LA, but I’m lonely out here. This has never been a place that I want to place any solid roots, and perhaps subconsciously I’m resisting settling here.

This article has given me some food for thought. I’m not leaving anytime soon, I’m too thankful to be doing what I love and making a good living at it. But one thing I could be doing is living a much more simple lifestyle and saving more. This is not a city of savers… this is a city of spenders. I suppose not joining in completely has something to do with my loneliness.

I didn’t edit this, so it’s a lot of rambling. But the point, I suppose, is: are we really happy living to work? Or should we be working to live?