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| Yeah, that's gonna leave a mark... |
Quick! There is a meteor heading for Earth that is big enough to take out a whole city, and it looks like it’s going to land right on your house…You don’t have much time; gather what you can. You can only take what will fit in your car; what/who do you take with you?
Most would probably say pets, photos, and loved ones of course and that would be my thoughts too. After all, these things/people are priceless. So then, why do we work our lives away accumulating posessions that we would be willing to chuck away in an instant? We fill our houses with little knickknacks and doodads and pack our garages to the ceiling with junk until we eventually need a bigger home just to accommodate it all.
One of my co-workers has recently decided to live in a sort of “tiny house.” Basically, he has converted a commercial van into a solar powered RV that he plans to live out of—kind of strange, right? I had made a comment on how I would find it hard to live the minimalist lifestyle that would go along with such living arrangements. But it was what he said next that really made me think. He said that on the contrary, what he was doing was the “maximist” lifestyle. He doesn’t have to worry about a house payment or electric bills, nor does he have a house full of possesions that he doesn’t need to bog him down. He has more money in his pocket to experience the world and make memories with friends and family. And, if he wanted to, he could travel the country or move to a new state. He then challenged me to think about all of the things around my house that I have either not touched within the last year, or that I could otherwise do without. While I don’t think I will be moving into a van anytime soon, he had a great point.
Garima Verma writes in her article titled, “Bushfires a Lesson in Life's Priorities,” “We will be happy when we recognize that - beyond basic needs - money and its purchases do not bring true joy.” In fact, most of these material goods that we strive for serve to only distract us from what’s important and keep us from truly experiencing life. We work long hours and take extra shifts to buy more stuff that we can still barely afford. We then come home exhausted and can only manage to lounge in front of our big screen T.Vs while we rest for our next shift. Why do we have to wait for it all to go up in smoke to realize what’s truly important?
I have to say I really enjoy your blogs! You do such a good job making your audience feel involved. Not to long ago I read about a men who moved into a shack in the mountains, he stopped working, learned to plant, hunt for his own food, and had no use of technology. He told the reporter that his never been as happy as he is now. He's is a little extreme but it just shows that less is actually more (as long as you're not starving of course).
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post that truly makes you think as a person " Do I really need this?" or "Is this as important as I think it is?". Many people get caught up on the little things in life such as having things like a giant TV Or "knick-knacks" and "doo-dads" that give the person no true beneficial use when they can be looking at the bigger picture of things such as you stated which was spending time with family and friends.Very well done.
ReplyDeleteJustin--The new blog and blog entries are looking good. Interesting content, comfortable and confident voice and engaging visuals. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteI like Entry #2. Good food for thought.
I recently saw a documentary on Netflix about the new "tiny house" trend. Your friends comment really got me thinking.
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