"There is nothing you need to achieve.
Just open your eyes."
- Siddhartha Gautama
- Siddhartha Gautama
We look, but we don't see. We hear, but don't listen. We eat, but don't taste. Touch, but don't feel. We survive, but don't live. Everyone is too busy striving.
Striving to achieve, but achieve what?
A more sincere existence? A better world? Peace? No.
Not in a capitalist consumer culture in which we are trained to strive for other, less honourable manufactured, profitable and ultimately soul destroying desires.
And of course, More, More, More.
No level of achievement is ever enough, because there is ALWAYS more to buy, consume, and hoard. The thing about the School of Consumerism is that you never graduate. You are never done. You always need to achieve more.
It sounds more like a prison.
We already have everything we need. If you can't be happy with a simple life, you won't be happy with the more complicated consumeristic alternatives either. Quit striving to achieve the things you are told to want, and you break free to live in a more natural, satisfying way.
Open your eyes to the joys of simplicity.
Striving to achieve, but achieve what?
A more sincere existence? A better world? Peace? No.
Not in a capitalist consumer culture in which we are trained to strive for other, less honourable manufactured, profitable and ultimately soul destroying desires.
- Material Success
- Physical Perfection
- Power
- Money
- Prestige
And of course, More, More, More.
No level of achievement is ever enough, because there is ALWAYS more to buy, consume, and hoard. The thing about the School of Consumerism is that you never graduate. You are never done. You always need to achieve more.
It sounds more like a prison.
We already have everything we need. If you can't be happy with a simple life, you won't be happy with the more complicated consumeristic alternatives either. Quit striving to achieve the things you are told to want, and you break free to live in a more natural, satisfying way.
Open your eyes to the joys of simplicity.
That is a such an honest post. People just don't seem to understand the concept of 'enough'. I dearly love the house on your blog heading. It's my kinda place
ReplyDeleteCherie,
DeleteNow is definitely a good time to practice "enoughism". So much better than "toomuchism".
Simplicity is best but many will find it hard to achieve. I think it is useful to start with diet eating a simple whole food plant based diet and start regular mediation practice. Meditation leads to general feelings of well being making simplicity easier over time. I'm looking at doing more yoga and run on most days using minimalist footwear. Buying only the essentials is key. Cutting out caffeine helps along with alcohol and other drugs. People think my lifestyle might be boring, but the feeling you get once you start doing this is powerful.
ReplyDeletePeace,
Alex
Alex,
DeleteLinda once asked me, "Don't you think that being enlightened might be boring?" By modern cultural standards I guess it would be. But what is definitely boring is extinction, and if we don't pick up on what you are putting down, that is where we (and many other species) are headed.
"The plain fact is that the planet does NOT need more successful people.
ReplyDeleteBut it does desperately need more PEACEMAKERS, HEALERS, RESTORERS, STORYTELLERS and LOVERS of every kind.
It needs people who live well in their places.
It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane.
And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it."
- David W. Orr
Terri,
DeleteThank you for sharing this powerful quote. So true.
Like Carrie, I oooo and awe over that house every time I come to this site. Love that house!
ReplyDeleteI think "achieving" is over-rated. One time during a particularly hard semester at college near the end just before graduation, someone stopped by a picnic table where several of us students sat and said, "Success is not about winning the race, but about getting in the race you can win." That stuck with me because it reminds me to have my own scale to measure by and not what my society prescribes for me. Another thought, why do I need to "win" or what does that mean? For me, it means providing for my basic needs and living fairly simple. So if humans need to feel they have to win at something, then I am kind of doing that because I can define what winning is. Maybe it boils down to defining what the race is to you or that winning means you don't participate in the race out there at all!
Terri,
DeleteI feel like I have won if I have a roof over my head, clothes to wear, and enough food to eat. The basics, as you said. Most everything else is a distraction.