John Mark,
Greetings again from your sane half. You don't see me much- your irrational moments are frequent and overpowering- but every now and then, your sane side bubbles to the top and puts thoughts in your head that, if you bothered to implement them, would make your life easier. I doubt you will, but here's hoping.
Today's topic is living simply. You're a materialist, and a rather shameless one at that. It's one of your many problems, and it's a big one. Materialism: the collection, even hoarding, of material things in all forms, and of placing said things in a station higher than they're due in life. Yes, this is a big issue with you- you buy and have a lot more than you need. You buy because it makes you happy- for a moment, at least. It must not make you happy for long, because you're back to buying more soon thereafter. You think you would have learned by now- guess not. And people think you're intelligent*. Materialism is quite common in the western world, so that makes it okay. No it doesn't. Let's look at the true ramifications of materialism, starting with what it takes to introduce something into your home.
There are three main stages to getting something new:
1) Before the purchase, you have to:
-spend time finding it
-spend resources finding it (like gas, driving around town)
2) During the purchase, you must:
-expend resources (likely money) to obtain it
3) After the purchase, you may have to:
-transport it to your home
-find a place to put it in your home
-buy storage units to accommodate it in your home
-organize it into an existing collection (think CDs or books)
-buy something else to supplement or protect it (like accessories, or insurance for valuables)
-maintain it (dust it, etc)
-protect it (keep it nice, away from the kids, etc)
-move it (whenever you move houses, which has become quite a habit for you)
Here's the overall point: buying something is much more than just spending money. Count the cost. Realize that storage, accessories, organization, and maintenance are all part of introducing something into your home. I thus conclude that the materialist is not just poorly managing his monetary resources; he's poorly managing his life, allowing an inordinate amount of time to be dedicated to "stuff." And, ironically, the more you have, the less you can enjoy it. Let's move on and look at some specific areas of issue with you.
Books
You read a lot. Good job- who cares. You own about 300 books. You've read half of them. Upon hearing this, some of your friends (unexpectedly) have sung your praises. "Over 50%? That's pretty good!" they've said. They're wrong. Don't believe them. It's not good to have twice as much as you use. Since this is your current problem, here are some tips for keeping books:
1) Set a physical space limit. Here's yours: the 3 bookshelves currently in the house, shared by all, but dominated by you. If you allow these shelves to overflow, you'll incur some unsaid, yet undoubtedly terrifying, penalty. So, once they're full, you have to get rid of a book if you want another.
2) Don't buy/keep a book unless you plan to do one or both of the following:
a. read it more than once
b. reference it at least once every few years
There's this thing called a library- use it once in a while. Sometimes, you buy a book because you like the idea of it, but don't read it soon- in fact, a few books you've had for over 10 years, and you keep saying "I'll read it next year." Hoarder- if you've had it a decade, maybe your interest isn't as great as you think. Remember my note from last time- there are many good things you'll never experience, and that's okay. Getting rid of books you're not reading doesn't mean you don't appreciate the content- it's just being responsible. Sometimes, you buy/keep books so you can loan them if people want- at least, that's what you tell yourself. You're not the town library, so stop the nonsense- you're throwing up a facade of generosity to justify purchasing things. This is called a flimsy rationalization- you don't need to own it all. Stick to the works you love and jettison the rest- you'll enjoy things more and have a simpler life, not to mention a bit more in your bank account.
Movies
Similar to the books section, so I'll just refer you there. Bottom line: you have many more movies than you can watch at reasonable intervals. Maybe you should give some away- like those Dora videos your daughter has. Those things are horrible. "Swiper no swiping- Swiper no swiping!" Great, now I have that in my head.
Clothes
You think you're okay here, but there's always improvements to be made. You enjoy collecting athletic jerseys- even though you don't wear them that often. You even have been tempted to buy jerseys just because you like the design, and not because you care about the team. That's stupid- man up. If you like the design, google it and admire it every now and then. You don't need to own it. Also, get rid of a few shirts. You wear only about 50% of your wardrobe consistently; why bother owning more stuff? So it can sit there and look pretty?
Digital "Items"
I'm not done yet. You think you get be less materialistic if you "go digital." Burn your CDs to MP3 and get rid of them. Buy eBooks instead of paper versions. Scan your old photos and throw out the hard copies. Yes, there are advantages to going digital. Storage is cheap, data takes up less room, files are easily backed up, etc. But, ask yourself, what's the point of amassing data? Is digital hoarding any better? For example, you have over 54,000 photos on your PC. 54,000. How often do you look at them? How often will you? Wouldn't it be better to reduce that by 90%, and keep the ones you really cherish? The more things you have, the less time you can spend enjoying them.
Food
Perishable items are not excluded from this little rant. You buy food you don't need, often on a whim. Your excuse seems reasonable- "I'm living overseas, I should enjoy the local offerings frequently"- but it's not. You're fat. You should lose 15lbs minimum. You can enjoy things without indulging too frequently. Heck, maybe you'd enjoy it more if you had it less often. You didn't think of that, did you?
Final Thoughts
One point I didn't cover above- when you own lots of stuff, you can develop an obsession over keeping it nice. Admit it- some things you own you value so much you're afraid to use them. Wow- you really are an idiot. What's the point of something that just sits on a shelf? A few years ago, you were staying in a hotel and had nothing but a camera and old laptop with you. The laptop was so old that you didn't care about it- you left it out, unprotected, in the hotel room as you explored that town. What a sense of freedom you had! No worrying over its safety, and it turned out to be fine, anyway. Life gets better when you don't get wrapped around the axle worrying about stuff- and the less you have, the less you're likely to worry about it.
Within 70 years (likely sooner, the way your kids have been acting recently), you'll be dead. You won't care what you have. You won't care what you leave. The more you have, the less you can enjoy what you have. So, ironically, the satisfaction you seek by constant purchases actually diminishes your enjoyment- it drives you further from your goal. The materialist thinks, irrationally, that there's a given threshold to be reached, and on reaching it, happiness is obtained. Wrong- the more you grasp, the less you'll have, in the important sense of the word.
- Herman
*no they don't
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