"...[Brother Giles] was a fellow Assisian, a man full of faith and devotion to whom the Lord had given a singular grace.....Years later St. Francis said of Brother Giles that he more than any other had arrived at the perfection of contemplative prayer. And Brother Giles himself used to say, 'The contemplative life is to leave behind all earthly things for the love of God, to seek only the things of heaven, to pray without tiring, to read often and with concentration, to praise God continually with hymns and canticles. To contemplate is to be separated from all and to be united to God alone.'" --The Anonymous of Perugia, Chapter 3, #14; The Mirror of Perfection, 85; The Golden Sayings of Brother Giles, Chapter XIIIThe contemplative life, such as Brother Giles describes, you might say, can only be carried out in a monastery-type setting since one's essentials (food and shelter) would have to be provided for you. But the contemplative life can still be achieved by the rest of us since it's really a mindset rather than a way of life. Having a time to read God's word, pray, and praise Him should be a part of every Christian's day. Once established you will find that the everyday mundane activities become metaphors for the truths you've been reading in God's word. You'll find yourself talking with Him and praising Him just because you've begun to experience Him in all things. As for leaving "behind all earthly things for the love of God" we are each called not to be of the world already. Earth is not our real Home. Our mindset should be that we are merely stewards of all that we have here. This one change in our thinking would help us loosen our grip on the things of the world.
