The majority of our spiritual leaders had nothing . Or if they had stuff , they gave it away . Jesus , Ghandi , the Dalai Lama were known for the little they had . They did not build massive churches , erect huge edifices or pour vast statues of themselves . They were not commercial . They did not need ‘ stuff ’. Stuff was the stuff that got in the way of the real stuff . We all know that . We all know that to truly be oneself , one has to shed belongings and find the true path , preferably without designer gear , cool wheels and the latest iPad .

We know that , but to lose the stuff you have is not so easy , especially when it is not done on a voluntary basis . I wouldn ’ t have minded if I had chosen to give away my worldly goods , shave a tonsure on my head , don a hairsuit and walk the pavements . If I had chosen ? I mean , if I had chosen then I would have felt sanctimonious , cool and really , really special . I think I might have even walked on water !

Freedom definitely comes from giving away your stuff and relying on your core . But what if you didn ’ t choose to give it away and it is taken anyway ? Is that called being robbed , mugged or just recessed ( as in recession )?

So when I lost all my possessions , one by one , then the rest in a great big flood of things , I stood in the receding wake like a tsunami victim . Waving not drowning , yet I was drowning in the loss . I thought my world had come to an end . A commercial end - and me with it .

But I learnt two very important things after my own personal tsunami-letting of goods . The first is that things are not important . I knew that before . I was never very ‘ brand ’ focused before , preferring shoddy to chic . Shabby-chic I called it . My ex called it cheap as chips - that is just one of the reasons he is my ex . But going from not being particularly bothered about things to not having them at all is a pretty emotional experience . I minded less the loss than the fact that my two children were unprotected and vulnerable . Losing for me was tough , but I felt losing for them was devastating . Not that they complained but I felt such the inadequate parent . They never moaned or asked for things out of the ordinary , and indeed often spent their own birthday money on necessities such was their acceptance of our combined financial stress .

I ’ d like to say at this point it was cathartic , but I can ’ t . I did not choose to lose my worldly goods , such as they were , and I did not feel the better for their loss . Quite the opposite . Guilt was strapped onto me tight as a backpack . I fretted over shoes for the children , tickets for outings , monthly shopping bills . I agonised over meeting friends over wine , but I still did it , and agonised all the more afterwards . What ? You bad mother you , that bottle of wine would have bought face wipes , stewing meat , insert whatever six euro substitute you can find . Someone may have said once that life is too short to drink bad wine . I ’ d answer and say you drink to your price range and now , yes , I was cheap as chips .

Knowing that things were not important allowed me to let go of the big things in my life , my home , my life savings , my security . But knowing I had children meant I had guilt every step of the way . I thought , frequently , if I were sick or they needed an operation , what would happen . Or even if they wanted something frivolous , what would happen . Oh , how easily your expectations are cut short and curtailed like the clipped wing on a bird of prey .

But I always knew things are not important . If I won the lottery in the morning , I would not go out and buy stuff . In fact , and very ironically , my ex and used to fight over imaginary lottery wins as I would threaten to give away at least two thirds of it – but this was fictional winnings , maybe I might have been a lot greedier with the real stuff . I think , however , if I did win the lottery now , I might pop into Primark and