The ten laws governing material “stuff”:
- Stuff breeds. The more you have the more you need.
- The useless stuff crowds out the good stuff.
- Dust, bugs, and moisture all love stuff.
- Stuff tends to stay where it lands.
- Stuff expands to fit the space available. The more space the more stuff you think you need.
- Over time stuff becomes invisible – after living with stuff we tend not to see it.
- Stuff costs money that may be better put to other uses.
- Stuff has a powerful effect on your state of mind. Useless stuff is a burden – it weighs us down.
- Stuff only has value when it is used, and it may rarely be used.
- Stuff doesn’t make you contented.
Based upon Georgene Lockwood’s Laws of Simplicity
Many of us are addicted to buying and having stuff. The Mall of America, a 4.2 million square foot shopping center, attracts more visitors annually than Disney World, Graceland, and the Grand Canyon combined. According to a study in 1997, the Mall of America was the most visited destination for U.S. travelers.
Of course there is nothing wrong with material goods per se. Simplicity is not about deprivation. The difficulty is when these goods or the quest to acquire them interferes with our nonmaterial needs or the needs of others.
So how much stuff is enough? A very difficult question to answer.
There is much life energy that goes into our possessions. Please think about each of these efforts carefully in regards to your own situation.
- We need to earn the money to pay for the material things we purchase.
- We spend time and energy researching what we want.
- We spend time and energy to purchase the items we decide on buying.
- At times we need to insure our items.
- At times we need to spend time and energy maintaining those items.
- We may worry about losing, breaking or having our material possessions stolen.
- Finally, we need to spend time disposing of the goods when we tire of them when our tastes change.
All the time and energy spent in these pursuits may be taking time away from our relationships, as well as our psychological and spiritual development.
Some relevant contemplations:
- Create a list of the material things you feel burdened by. They can be old possessions, things you bought but never used, or items that need a lot of upkeep.
- Create a plan on how and when you will let each of those items go. If
you are unable to make that commitment, write the reasons why you
are finding it difficult to do so. Finally, try and weigh the difficulty of
letting the items go with the burden of keeping them.
- Reflect on ways in which your self-esteem may be predicated on what
you own or how other’s perceive what you own.
- What are some (any) consumption patterns that you would like to eliminate? Commit to the mindful (non-judgmental) observation of
these patterns until they begin to extinguish themselves.
I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn’t itch. Gilda Radner
That’s all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need a house. You could just walk around all the time. A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. George Carlin
OVERALL SIMPLICITY
What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder because you will always find those who think they know what your duty is better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great person is one who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Simplicity is not poverty. Some individuals equate simplicity with growing one’s own food, using solar energy, living in a tiny apartment, and never spending money on activities that entertain or provide stimulation. Simplicity is also not a “back to nature” movement.’
Rather, voluntary simplicity is having a lifestyle that supports meaningful work, quality relationships, pleasurable activities, healthy living practices, connection to nature, ethical values, and spiritual development. “The essence of voluntary simplicity is living in a way what is outwardly simple and inwardly rich.” This type of simplicity will look different for each individual.
Here are some contemplations that will allow you to begin thinking about your current life style and any changes you have already made relating to a more simple life. If you find it helpful, you can record your thoughts and answers in your journal.
- What would living a more simple life look like if you were able to achieve it? Describe that life style in detail.
- What are the ways in which you have consciously tried to simplify your life over the past year?
- What are the ways in which you have actually succeeded in simplifying your life?
- Isolate how the quality of your life has changed by virtue of the changes you made to simplifying it.
I hope you take the time to work with theses contemplations. They are quite simple really!
