In today’s society, the sign of wealth is accumulation of goods, toys and other status items.
I feel as though that mentality has slowly been changing, due partly to the push by the recent recession.
And I am thrilled to be a part of the milieu!
The recession has forced people, companies & governments alike to review their finances and make budget cuts
……which in turn makes them causes them to cast a baleful eye towards all the STUFF they’ve accumulated over the years.
And STUFF is certainly not only physical; governments & corporations are finding out just how inefficient they are, having wasted money left and right without a proper review & procedure in place.
But on a personal level, people are starting to almost resent what they’ve purchased, some are wishing they had the money in their bank accounts instead while others just don’t want their homes to be so cluttered.
So what can a person do?
As for me, I am definitely no stranger to loving things.
Yet I feel as though I am slowly gaining a better handle on how to avoid accumulating more than what I can possibly need and love.
And it may be due to two major Ah-Hah! moments I’ve had in the past year or two and I hope they make as much sense to you as they do to me:
First Ah-Hah! Moment: My things are not who I am.
Yes, they represent my personality in some shape or form, but they don’t truly define who I am as a person.
This is particularly important, because we have a lot of advertising messages being blasted at us on a daily basis, telling us that if we buy this item, we will be cool, or if we wear this perfume and dress a certain way, we will improve our lives and magically feel better about ourselves.
While to some extent I agree that dressing well for example, has increased my confidence & self esteem, 90% of the messages are full of crap.
They want you to buy and surround yourself with physical items to visually announce to everyone how rich you can seem to everyone, or how pretty or cool you are.
When I went without the internet and telephone, and without my things surrounding me, I missed everything that made me feel like I was myself.
But as the days wore on, and my life without my things became more and more comfortable, I realized:
I was still the same person in the end without my things, and I didn’t need to be dependent on them to me feel like myself.
So why the heck did I have so much?
I had tried to overcompensate for what I thought I could show I was all about — by decorating my home perfectly, having a great wardrobe & a fantastic kitchen.
I can still be a great person with a rich and amazing life, with very little possessions.
And while I still lust after things, I am now much more critical about the purchase.
Showing off to other people may make them envious of what you have, but it’s just putting up an image for them.
Show off for yourself. Enrich your life instead of others.
Who cares about them? You’re the one paying & living with what you’ve got.
If you don’t gain any real, physical, personal pleasure from having a sexy new car, then don’t buy it.
Buy and use things only for yourself and your own pleasure.
Patty @ Why Not Start Now?
on Dec 1st, 2009
@ 1:31 am:
Very profound ah hah moment. It’s interesting too how you say you missed things initially, but later became more comfortable without your things. Almost like you could be more yourself without them. I think that’s true for me; the more I let go, the closer I get to who I really am.
Patty @ Why Not Start Now?´s last blog ..Retracing My Steps
everydayminimalist
on Dec 1st, 2009
@ 7:14 am:
It was really uncomfortable at first. But then it just made more sense.
Too many things and too much choice, can be a hindrance, rather than a boon at times.
birdie
on Dec 1st, 2009
@ 9:42 pm:
I feel like I’ve hit equilibrium, and that’s really what it’s all about. I’ll think on the way home, “I could go shopping” but when I look through my closet it’s like… There’s nothing that I NEED (In fact, there’s a clothing swap this weekend where I can get rid of extra stuff, and I’ve got dvds that can go to a reseller) And to me, that’s what minimalism is about; living with only what you need. Need is a highly subjective thing, based on who we are as a person, but more kitchen things (save a good fillet knife – that’d be really nice for bringing home fish), or more household goods, or more clothes won’t make my life better…..
birdie´s last blog ..The Case for a Knockoff
birdie
on Dec 1st, 2009
@ 9:51 pm:
A note on my comment: Mister is all about upgrading. He says “get rid of crap if you’re going to get better crap.”
birdie´s last blog ..The Case for a Knockoff
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@ 6:09 am:
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