Many of the opinions I express to people are probably misconstrued. I try to explain things I say as thoroughly as I can, but I'm pretty sure I fail many times. Plus many people probably don't want to read the paragraphs I write, or hear my 20 minute discourses on my theories. The result is there are a lot of people out there that think I do something for a certain reason, when in reality I do whatever it may be for a different reason. I will continue to try and work on that, but I'll try to clear one thing up here at least.
While conversing with friends I make many statements regarding our attachment to material goods, and its negative effects. I'm pretty sure many people can take these statements as a representation of me as an extreme anti-consumerist. This may not be word for word but a friend once said "You want to live in a cabin in the woods without electricity though," when we were having a discussion about something. This is wrong of course. I am not Ted Kaczynski.
I don't promote the complete abandonment of creation and consumption. I don't believe humans should return to nature and simply live as other species do. Humanity has evolved to a point where we can create incredible things which enrich our lives. I just believe we can do without some of the things we make.
This is why I consider myself more of a minimalist. Now I am also not an extreme minimalist. I don't want to live only with my basic needs met. If that were true I wouldn't be making a post on a blog with a laptop because none of those things are necessary to survive. I believe in smart consumption and a slight detachment from property. Buy things you'll really use, and get rid of things you won't really use.
I used to collect Game Informer, Juxtapoz and Rolling Stone magazines believing that one day I would look back into them. They stayed here for a few years collecting dust until I realized I was keeping them based on a belief which was founded on nothing. I started looking around my room and realized I was surrounded by things that were simply occupying space for no reason. I guess to a certain extent, I believed the items in my room expressed who I was. That's when I asked myself, why would I let myself be defined by my physical property? It seemed irrational.
I've since donated everything I knew I wouldn't use again. Clothes, books, toys, magazines, furniture, electronics...all these things could be useful to someone else, why should I keep them for myself? I've also decided to get a smaller bed, and to move into a smaller room in my apartment, giving my brother the larger room. The more things I got rid of, the lighter I felt. I know exactly where everything is, and everything became easier to access.
We place a certain weight on physical objects and sometimes the weight becomes an anchor, making something impossible to move. Sometimes we place memories in objects and act as though this object will hold the memory for us. Sometimes we simply feel we invested too much into the object and we shouldn't get rid of it. There are many reasons we keep things around. If you really analyze these reasons though, many start to seem irrational. This is where my ideas regarding possessions come from. An analysis of our feelings regarding the objects we define as our property is necessary to truly identify whether it is truly benefiting us, or it is simply...there.
How many things do you really use around your residence? And how many things are simply there because you keep making up excuses for its presence? Look around and ask yourself that and you might find yourself packing things into boxes.
- Dennis
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