Work-Buy-Storage-Die?

In what is mistakenly called the civilized world, we like our houses. We have houses for people, and then separate houses for our cars, which are often attached to the house for the people. 

Lots of yards also have smaller houses for lawn and garden tools.

Many people also rent off site mini-houses (more like apartments) for all the extra stuff that doesn't fit into the people house, the car house, or the yard and garden house.

The USA has 2.63 billion square feet of self-storage apartments for stashing excess and lightly loved stuff. That number represents 90% of the global inventory. 

All that extra stuff storage is costing consumer/storagers. US industry revenue is over $30 billion annually, and grows in the region of 3% in recent years. More stuff!

Frequently, once stuff goes into a storage unit, the storer never pulls it out again. For various reasons thousands of storage units are abandoned and put up for auction every year. 

This seems like a good example of how we value things less when they are in great supply.


Stuff in a consumer society is in great supply, and all of it has to go somewhere. If the people house is full, and the car house is full, and the yard/garden house is full, that somewhere is a dusty storage block. 

It seems sad and futile, to spend a life working hard to get the money to support the acquiring and curating of your own unique set of stuff, only for some, or all of it, to be forgotten. 

What, then, is it all for? We have so much stuff that we need special places for all of it to live, and often, die. Is this the special purpose of human life? Is this civilized? Am I missing something here?


Work-Buy-Storage-Die?


A self storage locker is an obvious opportunity to do some downsizing and decluttering. Eliminating off-site storage, and all unnecessary, unwanted, and unloved stuff, saves money and promotes peace of mind.

We have known for a long time that having more wealth and stuff than we need does not increase our level of happiness.  

The happiest people on our planet are those that know what enough is, and are content with that. No storage required.

Less Stuff, Less Housework

Housework. It seems that no one actually likes it. However, since it is as unavoidable as a nasty Trump tweet, something must be done to make it manageable.

While it is possible to enjoy cleaning house, how many people would rather do housework than other possibly more enjoyable activities? 

I have tried saying to myself, "I get to clean today" instead of "I have to clean today" to make it feel more like a choice, but I would still rather be in the woods, or be playing guitar and singing with Linda.

Having said that, I do believe I have found the secret to housework. 
    

Have less stuff.



That is my personal solution to the challenges of home maintenance. The way I see it, less stuff means less work overall. Life is more than buying and cleaning and storing and upgrading an endless number of things. 

Less stuff maintenance means more time to spend on more enjoyable things. For me that is just about anything. 

Less stuff, less housework, more life.

Therapies More Effective Than Retail Therapy - The Reader-Generated Definitive List

Spending time in nature is my preferred therapeutic activity.

In consumer societies, shopping is a popular way to combat the blues, or celebrate an event. This behaviour has been co-opted by those who have something to sell, and optimistically labelled "retail therapy".

A 2014 study found that 62% of respondents reported that they had bought something to cheer themselves up, while 28% went shopping as a form of celebration. Retailers love those numbers.

While shopping is not my thing, the fact remains that there can be psychological benefits to engaging in that activity. 

In moderation, acquiring things may serve to increase your self-confidence, help you reach mastery of something you enjoy doing, or put you into contact with other people in your community. 

For many, however, shopping can become problematic, and any potential therapeutic effects are nullified.

If you avoid credit card or bank statements, lie about or hide purchases, miss work, school, or other obligations to go shopping, experience shame, guilt, or irritability with shopping, then it becomes an activity that is no longer therapeutic. 

What it is in that case is consumerism in its worst form - the ever increasing acquisition of goods and services fuelled by planned obsolescence and the multi-billion dollar marketing industry.

If shopping therapy is not your thing, the following reader-generated list of activities that you may find more effective, is something to consider. 

I am a big fan of all of them.

- Nature Therapy 
- Conversation Therapy 
- Exercise Therapy
- Meditation Therapy

- Garden Therapy
- Helping Others Therapy
- Cooking Therapy
- Reading Therapy

- Game/Puzzle Therapy
- Music Therapy
- Art Therapy
- Cleaning/Laundry Therapy

Do you have a favourite therapeutic activity you find more soothing than shopping? It is always good to hear about how others are using healthier/less expensive/environmentally damaging activities to improve their mood. 

I added a couple more that came to mind since I wrote my initial post (that you can find here). And now that I think of it, laughter therapy is another one of my all time favourites.

Help make our definitive list even more definitive.

Share your suggestions in the comment section. Lets create the most authoritative "Alternatives to Shopping" list on the internet.

You Can't Deny The Laws Of Physics

Another climate conference, another wasted opportunity. No doubt when COP24, taking place in the heart of Polish coal country, is over, it will still lack the commitments required. That is because what we really need is a system change.

Our current system is unsustainable, and we have known it for hundreds of years. It defies not only common sense, but also the laws of physics, to believe that infinite growth can happen in perpetuity in a closed system. Of course it can't, and therefore the denial found in all areas where the worst offenders live.

Today a small group of humans enjoy multi-planet lifestyles, while others are getting on a fraction of that, sometimes with a better quality of life. Our excessive lifestyles can only be supported by ecosystem degradation, the exploitation of the poorest among us, and by stealing resources from future generations. 

Consumer lifestyles not only defy any moral code, they also defy physics - you can't have 4.5 planet lifestyles for long when you only have one planet. 

The richest 10% of us (500 million people) are responsible for half of the climate-harming fossil fuel emissions. Those in the bottom 50% of wealth (about 3.5 billion people) contribute only about 10% of global emissions.

"Climate change and economic inequality are inextricably linked and together pose one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. 

Rich, high emitters should be held accountable for their emissions, no matter where they live.” 

- Tim Gore, Oxfam, head of food and climate policy

We need both local and global solidarity to avoid a climate catastrophe. However, the establishment is fighting hard to prevent such solidarity to form because it threatens profits and powerful individuals. 

Therefore, we can't wait for governments, or corporations, to save us. Individuals, especially those with high footprints, will have to take the lead on making the necessary changes that will make a significant difference right away. 

"If the top 10% of high consumption carbon emitters cut their carbon footprint to the level of the average European citizen, that would be the equivalent of a one-third cut in global emissions, even if the other 90 percent did nothing. 

I mean, a one-third cut in global emissions just from that 10 percent reducing footprints to the level of the average European citizen." 

- Kevin Anderson, professor in climate change leadership 

So who are the most important climate leaders? Unfortunately, not the ones currently nursing their denial in Poland. It is up to us. And while we do this thing together, we will be building the better world we know is possible.

The Tiny Home of Maud Lewis

The home of Canadian painter Maud Lewis.

Maud and Everett Lewis' house, in rural southwest Nova Scotia, was small. I have seen estimates ranging from 90 to 170 square feet, a tiny, tiny home by any measure. 

To make things more challenging, the home had no running water, no power, and was far from neighbours. They lived in the house (cottage? cabin? hut? shed?) from 1938 to 1970.

Wait, there's more. Maud Lewis was affected by rheumatoid arthritis, and her hands eventually became bent and crippled. 

Mr. Lewis grew a small garden behind the house, dug for clams, and caught fish in tide pools, which he peddled in the area. He also cared for his wife as she was unable to assist with chores. She could barely hold her paint brushes.

Not only did they live without most everything we take for granted today, they lived without many of the things people back then possessed.

And yet, Maud created classic Canadian folk art that was whimsical and full of joy and colour. People that knew her, said she was a happy person, but was most happy while painting.

Three Black Cats - one of my favourite Maud Lewis paintings.

What the Lewis home lacked in size and amenities it made up for in sheer artistic delight. Every surface was covered with splashes of bright paint depicting flowers and animals, birds and trees.

While the artist never ventured any farther afield than her immediate locality, she lived a vital life, produced much beloved art, and contributed to her community in a way that put it on the art lover's map.

All in 90 to 170 square feet.

Debt Slavery Hits New Highs

Do an internet search for "sad debt stories", and you will open a door to misery and woe. There are no shortage of horror stories, ranging from celebrities to the folks next door. Debt, and the resulting sad stories, should come with a strongly worded warning label.

Such labels could have pictures of things like someone burning their furniture to stay warm, or a debt collector appearing at a grave. And leaving with the headstone. And flowers.

The only thing worse than buying a bunch of stuff you don't need, is borrowing money to buy a bunch of stuff you don't need. Globally this is what seems to be happening as people gorge on consumer credit like never before. New records are being broken every year - for debt and for sad stories.

Consumer debt includes credit cards, car loans, and student loans, but not mortgages, and it has reached nose bleed levels in both the US and Canada. In my own country of high expectations, people have borrowed to maintain their lifestyles, and owe, on average, $1.73 for every $1.00 of disposable income.

Hey, if you can't support a bloated lifestyle with earned money in the bank, don't downsize - borrow, borrow, borrow, and get all the things that are going to make you happy. For a while. Maybe. Good luck paying it off.

The faster we shop, the deeper in we go. We can't seem to stop. It is an addiction, and if it weren't so darn profitable, we would consider it a national mental health crisis. Debt is the crack of consumerism, and we are smoking it as fast as we can.

In another trend, more Canadians than ever before are retiring with debt. Cue more sad stories. Some of them will die with debt. If there is no hope of ever paying it off, you fit the very definition of "debt slave".

Meanwhile, in the lending industry, the banksters lick their chops at consumers' desires, and laugh about the slogan hung on the board room wall that says, "Lend With a Smile -  Collect With a Fist".

That is why, if one is considering living a freer, simpler lifestyle, getting out of debt is of utmost importance. The chains must be broken, the debt paid off, and no new debt accrued ever again.

You can't go wrong with this in mind.

When you begin to not buy anything (or at least as little as you can get away with), you will at least not accumulate new debt. In the best case scenario, you use the money you save on not buying anything to bring your debt down, hopefully, one day, to zero.

That is freedom day. That is when you can laugh at the banks as you throw your broken chains through their front window. I would call that performance art. Get it on video if you do it, then share it far and wide so other debt slaves can see that breaking free is possible. Potentially difficult, but possible.

No unnecessary spending = no debt = freedom.

It should be noted that many people are using debt for necessary spending in an attempt to compensate for the dismal state of the wage labour situation today. Or should we say wage slavery situation? I see a disturbing trend here.

However, hope can be found in voluntary simplicity because it allows us to be less dependent on the sick systems that are trying, successfully I might add, to exploit us. They will get their pound of flesh - unless you don't buy what they have to offer.

Anti-Consumer Protest Art/Ancient Wisdom Mashup

“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” 

- Socrates

Our last protest art/quote mashup post was well received. Combining thought-provoking nuggets of wisdom (not my own) along with eyeball poking visuals is an irresistible combination.

Our last mashup used zen quotes. This time I am tapping into the ancient wisdom of Socrates. The art is the result of an "anti-consumerism protest art" image search, which always yields interesting results.

“If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.”

“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” 

“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”

“To find yourself, think for yourself.” 

"He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature."

Socrates is know for laying the foundation for western philosophy. When he was around (born 470 BC), there was no mass consumerism. And if we heeded his teachings, there would be no conspicuous consumption today, because we would be too smart for that.

Socrates believed that money had a corrupting influence, and that we should seek lives of material moderation. When asked about his frugal lifestyle, he replied that he loved visiting the market "to see all the things I am happy without."

Socrates lived his entire 71 year lifespan within the ancient city of Athens. He would have enjoyed the city for a longer period of time if he weren't sentenced to death for his rebellious and unrelenting search for the truth.

It seems that the elite of the day couldn't handle the truth.

I wonder what the philosopher would think of the state of the world today? We have improved our gadgets, but have we improved ourselves as human beings? Has mass consumerism brought us closer to the truth?

Out Of The Closet

It's out of the closet: a minimalist wardrobe is enough.

The pioneers of one planet wardrobes are coming out of the closet, and they are clean, adequately clothed, and content. And they have some great ideas.

What a pleasure to see the discussion going on in the comments after our post on the serious global clothing clutter conundrum. There are many experiences shared that show that simplifying ones closet is the way to go for a multitude of reasons.

Linda and I have been de-clothing for many years. After reducing our possessions to what we could carry in our van in 2014, we have since reduced further, and are enjoying a more minimalist wardrobe than ever before.

Recently we have laughed about our "uniforms". Each of us have been relying on two sets of clothes since the winter started. One set is worn, while the other is to be laundered. We usually wear the same set of clothes for a week, then do laundry along with bedding and towels.

At the same time we do laundry, we have our once per week shower (more or less depending on the time of year and what we are doing). And let me tell you, if you are only having one shower a week, each and every one feels like a major spa treatment.

There is nothing like living in simplicity to heighten your appreciation and enjoyment of all aspects of life. The same goes with having too many clothes - how can you appreciate the things in your closet and drawers that you don't even know you have?

Our tiny wardrobe, coupled with our shower and laundry routines, help to make our life more simple and efficient. In simplicity, such routines become an enjoyable part of life, not something to avoid, or do in hurry rather than in savour.

And do I even need to say it saves resources and money?

In closing, let me say how satisfying it is to be able to have this discussion with such sensible readers. No fashionistas making fun of wearing last season's colours or clothes. No oversanitized hygiene hysteria. Just simple, frugal, enviro-friendly ways of living happier with less.

How refreshing.

Gratitude and Thankfulness

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

“Thankfulness creates gratitude which generates contentment that causes peace.”

- Todd Stocker

The secret to finding the simple life that appeals you is tapping into the spirit of gratitude and thankfulness. It is this spirit which allows one to appreciate what they have instead of longing for what they might have.

Thankfulness leads to contentment, one thing advertisers and neuro-marketing manipulators do not want you to feel. Ever. They need you to be constantly craving.

They begrudgingly give it up for Thanksgiving, but follow it up with Black Friday, the most surreal shopping event of the year. “Ok, enough of the gratitude, take your desire, lust and acquisitiveness off pause and let's get back to shopping.”

“Sometimes we spend so much time and energy thinking about where we want to go that we don't notice where we happen to be.”

- Dan Gutman

So we have supper with the family, give thanks for our good fortune to be living in the land of everything for everybody all the time, then spend the night camping out on a sidewalk so we can be the first to grab a deal on the lust-have material trinket of the year.

Be thankful you have fists, because you might have to use them to break the store doors down, or beat a competing consumer for the last item on the shelf.

What if, when Thanksgiving ended, you decided not to re-engage your infinite desire for more? What if you decided you had enough, and no amount of more could possibly improve your quality of life?What if you decided that living to work and shop was the problem, and chose instead to be perpetually grateful for the most precious of things in life?

What if you decided to be content with what you already have? More? No thank-you.

“Be thankful for your allotment in an imperfect world.  Though better circumstances can be imagined, far worse are nearer misses than you probably care to realize.”

- Richelle E. Goodrich

I am thankful to be alive, healthy, and experience love in my life. I am grateful to have enough to eat, a warm, dry place to rest my head, and clothes to keep me warm and covered. I am content with a minimal level of material possessions, and appreciate how they actively support the things I love to do with my time.

If you can cultivate a daily, moment to moment appreciation for the gifts the Universe has bestowed up you and your life, you are on your way to creating a simple, intentional life that allows the best possible outcomes for you, the human family, and all life on Earth.

Simple Living Advice

Think. Ask questions. Learn. Answers follow. Take action. Repeat.

A big thank you to everyone that responded to my last post with advise for NBA reader, Hagan, who is looking to break out of the 9 to 5 and live a more adventurous and free life on the road. It has turned out to be one of my favourite comment threads of all time on our blog.

The responses are great for anyone pursuing alternative ways of living, and who isn't these days? Following the comments, and thinking about Hagan's 23 year old thoughts, has me thinking a lot about my own path, 33 years advanced from his position.

Whenever I am pondering something, patterns become apparent, and information presents itself at precisely the right time. For example, I was reading at the Down To Earth blog. I find that we are often on the same page, and this time was no different.

On her most recent post Rhonda Jean wrote:

"I think simple life is a safe haven for those of us who refuse to be dumbed down and who want to continue learning and developing ourselves all through life.

The choices are key here. Instead of following a straight and monotonous "normal" path, we can step away from that to embrace learning, independence, daily contemplation, critical thinking and individual choice. Sometimes we take the easy path, sometimes the difficult one and each day, small step by small step we move through life. 

There are times when we stop and reevaluate what we're doing, sometimes small adjustments or huge leaps are made but if we resist the noise of modern life and stay focused on our own life being a work in progress, then these periods of adjustment help us continue along the road less travelled."

I thought of Hagan, because like the comments posted here, these are words to live by, words that I have lived by. It reminded me that there are no simple answers, no one size fits all response when it comes to thinking about how we should best live this precious, precious life we have been given.

Having said that, one can't go wrong by advising a life of simplicity centred on continuous learning and self-improvement. It seems that if one focuses on that, the rest will fall into place.

Again, thank you to NBA commenters that have shared their wise thoughts with us. I do hope that Hagan has seen your kind words.

You can read the post and comments here. And if you haven't already, do consider leaving a comment of your own.

Stuff: Potential Obstacle In Any Home

Henry David Thoreau's cabin had few obstacles to living "deliberately" while confronting
"only the essential facts of life".

A home is a very personal thing. Each of us sets up our homes differently to reflect where we are in life at the time. But the important things are usually fine tweaks to a well established set of things that culture deems to be necessary to attaining the good life. But are those possessions freeing us, or are they obstacles to addressing more important considerations, the "essential facts of life"?

In consumer cultures the list of home essentials has been growing for decades. Unsurprisingly, houses have been bloating at the same time, just to contain all the stuff. During that period, my own list of what I consider to be essential at home has been shrinking as my desire for simplicity and freedom from the stifling weight of stuff has been growing.

Henry David Thoreau considered the ownership of material possessions beyond the basic necessities of life to be an obstacle. That has certainly been my experience. The best bits of my life so far are the ones where I have been living in stark simplicity.

Things like camping, extended backpacking trips, living out of a van for extended periods, and staying in a spartan monks room as a student all made me wonder about all the other stuff that we are told are necessary for the "good life". If I can survive happily with very little, what is the rest for?

I had to wonder if my possessions were a life enhancer, or obstacles. I decided most of it fell into the "Obstacle" category, and have been busy identifying and removing them from my life ever since. Add in reducing my ecological impact in a time of increasing scarcity, and there was no going back. I couldn't see the down side.

Still, no one can tell anyone else what they need to live the life they want. And Thoreau is not the only one inviting us to "simplify, simplify, simplify". In response to my last post here, readers offered up their take on the simple home, and the simple life.

I couldn't of said it any better myself. Go to the post to read even more good ideas.

"Enough is a roof over our head, love, nourishing food, clean water, simple attire for modesty and something to stimulate, like a conversation, art, craft, book etc...everything else is the custard on our cherry tart."

"I think a simple home is one that feels perfect to you. A place to lay your head safely, be warm and comfortable and have those you love around you, equally in comfort. A place where the things you have in your home are things you own and that don't own you. Items that are either useful or beautiful (or both!)."

“I’ve recently been house sitting for a friend & only took the bare minimum with me. I completely agree, I barely missed anything & actually felt freer and lighter without all my possessions.

When thinking about setting up a new house, it is also helpful to look at all the amazing stuff on Craigslist/gumtree(Australia)/thrift shops/giveaways. There are more than enough things already out there in the world, so even for things you decide you really 'need', it is almost never essential to buy them new - support businesses & practices you don't agree with.”

"I tend to be much more functional and less aesthetic in my home. Simple, easy to clean and maintain. I lean toward higher quality and good maintenance so things around me don't wear out, get sent to the landfill and have to be replaced. I also want stuff that I can move around from one room to another. I like open floor plans."

The take away? Warning! Stuff is a potential (and likely) obstacle in any home. Proceed with caution, and simplicity. Thanks for the excellent feedback everyone. It's not too late to join the conversation. Add your thoughts here.

Anti-Shopping Advice From The Trenches

My post on oniomania, or compulsive shopping, is one of NBA's most read. It is also one of those posts that has elicited numerous interesting comments, including from readers with a diagnosed addiction to shopping. Those comments contain excellent strategies for dealing with the impulse to shop beyond what is needed.

Since that applies to most people and most shopping done in consumer-oriented cultures, this anti-shopping advice is helpful to us all in quelling the strong impulse toward wanting MORE.

First let us consider some of the reasons for shopping for things we do not need as expressed by NBA readers.

• Loneliness
• Depression
• Desire to “look good”.
• Deprivation early in life.
• Working a lot.
• Feeling isolated
• Advertising.
• A sense of competition - trying to "keep up".
• Feeling unloved.

Following are some of the strategies that have helped or motivated readers to deal with their urges to shop.

• Run out of room to store things.
• Run out of money and/or credit.
• Recognize you are not alone, and that many others experience the same shopping compulsion.
• Share your situation with loved ones. Let them help.
• Dedicate yourself to a hobby or project.
• Spend time with friends.
• Cut up your credit card(s).
• Develop a positive addiction such as regular exercise.
• Be content with what you already have.
• Recognize and eliminate your "triggers" that lead to urges to shop.
• Seek the help of someone who understands the consequences of compulsive shopping.

It is hard to say NO to shopping while crawling through the trenches of consumerism. There is a lot of pressure to buy, buy, buy.

But a better way is possible. You will find a lot of support here.

Peak Stuff

People are getting over their love affair with stuff, and finding happiness.

Are mature consumer economies reaching Peak Stuff? I mean how much crap that you don't need can people buy? Or afford? Like banging your head against the wall, it can't go on forever.

Data shows that in the UK the consumer buying frenzy has been tapering. It is unlikely that it is the only place where 'dematerialization' is occurring. The times are ripe for the post-consumer curious to look at minimalism and simplicity in pursuit of right sizing bloated lifestyles.

Ex-consumers are altering personal consumption from conspicuous displays of wealth to a level based more on need. After a decades long buying spree that has not increased our quality of life, many are feeling better while consuming less.

Businesses are even cluing in to the fact that things are changing. An executive from a large home furnishing store said recently,

"In the West, we've probably hit peak stuff. We talk about peak oil. I'd say we've hit peak red meat, peak sugar, peak home furnishings."

Yup. Peak stuff, peak this, peak that. We have been pigging out on everything. Are we finally done?

We Want More Than The Earth Can Give

We want more than the Earth can give, and the consequences are catching up to us.

There is a word for what happens when we harvest resources faster than the earth can replenish them. That word is 'deplete'. We have depleted all of our resources because we thought we could have whatever we wanted whenever we wanted it.

We can't.


de·plete
[dəˈplēt]
VERB

use up the supply or resources of:

"fish stocks are severely depleted"

synonyms: exhaust · use up · consume · expend · drain · empty · milk · reduce · decrease · diminish · slim down · cut back

diminish in number or quantity:

"supplies are depleting fast"


If we can see things as they truly are, maybe we can avoid total civilizational collapse. Maybe 2016 will be better, but don't count on it. All we can do is prepare for what is coming if we continue to take more than Earth can provide.

The way to rectify resource depletion is to use less resources so that the Earth can recover. If that doesn't happen, and now, a depleted resource base combined with a growing population means future humans will have to live with less.

Before us is an unprecedented opportunity to renounce the shallowness of consumerism and mundane materialism, heal ourselves and the planet, and provide enough to meet everyone's need.

Here's to a better, simpler 2016 in which the Earth can recover from our over-reaching desires. Greed is so last year.

One Year Later

Life is a constant blossoming and unfolding of beauty, if only we take the time to see it happening.

June 1st of last year Linda and I set off on a cross country quest. A large part of our quest was to secure a wheelchair accessible home close to the Atlantic Ocean.

After a 2 month, 6600 km adventure in a van we bought a few days before we left Sooke, BC, we arrived in Digby, NS. The nice people at the local visitor's centre helped us locate an accessible room from which to base ourselves for the few days it would take to look for a more permanent home.

Before long our online search yielded just what we were looking for on an old potato farm in a rural area a few kilometres out of town. Our landlords live in a beautifully re-purposed potato barn.

We didn't know it when we moved in, but there is a wheelchair accessible forest trail along a brook that is basically in our back yard. Everything we need is close.

In future posts Linda and I would like to share how we have fared since our continent-spanning drive, finding a home, going into the hospital with a bad back, and recovering. When we arrived here everything we owned was in our van, and it wasn't very much.

Since then we have acquired a few things, but not too many. We think it is just enough to live the low impact life that we prefer. Those few things, coupled with an accessible home have allowed us to settle in nicely.

It is one year later and we are blossoming. Our simple life is turning into a thing of beauty.

Tidy and Organized Crap Is Still Crap

There is a psychic cost to owning stuff... even if it is tidy and organized.

I have not read Marie Kondo's book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing". From what I can see, she is into helping people organizing their stuff.

But tidy and organized crap is still crap.

In all fairness, it appears the author is in way deeper than just making a bunch of useless stuff aesthetically pleasing. The few choice quotes I went over tell me she is also urging people to own less stuff.

Less stuff, but more meaningful stuff. Things that speak to your soul and add to your life.

A bunch of messy stuff is soul-sucking. A bunch of organized stuff a little less so. But just enough stuff to help you engage in your passions and priorities is a blessing.

The following quotes suggest that putting this book on hold at the public library for further research may be a good idea. There are some real nuggets of wisdom here, and I speak from personal experience in my quest to live on the least amount of stuff as possible.

And no crap, organized or otherwise.

“The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life.”
 

“The process of assessing how you feel about the things you own, identifying those that have fulfilled their purpose, expressing your gratitude, and bidding them farewell, is really about examining your inner self, a rite of passage to a new life.”
 

“The best way to choose what to keep and what to throw away is to take each item in one’s hand and ask: “Does this spark joy?” If it does, keep it. If not, dispose of it. This is not only the simplest but also the most accurate yardstick by which to judge.”

- Marie Kondo

L.E.S.S.

Since our pursuit for more everything has created multiple environmental crises, and hasn't made us any happier, perhaps we should try less. Less everything, more happiness?

I like what John Michael Greer, an author and blogger that writes on peak oil and the demise of industrial society, has to say about the importance of cutting back on excessive consumption.

He wraps it all up in the acronym L.E.S.S., which stands for Less Energy, Stuff and Stimulation.

"The non-negotiable foundation of any meaningful response to the crisis of our time, as I’ve pointed out more than once here, can be summed up conveniently with the acronym L.E.S.S.—that is, Less Energy, Stuff, and Stimulation. 

We are all going to have much less of these things at our disposal in the future.  Using less of them now frees up time, money, and other resources that can be used to get ready for the inevitable transformations. 

It also makes for decreased dependence on systems and resources that in many cases are already beginning to fail, and in any case will not be there indefinitely in a future of hard limits and inevitable scarcities."

Doing more with more is long gone. Doing more with less isn't looking good either. Now is the time for doing less with less. Perhaps then we can restore balance in both our environment and our lives.

Perhaps then we will rediscover true happiness.

“The less I needed, the better I felt.” Charles Bukowski

Rule #1: Do No Harm

Living simply is, well, simple. It requires little more than cultivating a conscious effort to do no harm. Or at least as little harm as possible. All the rest follows from that effort.

It is hard to spend money these days and NOT do harm. Therefore, deciding to reduce the harm one does also means saving money. And any time we harm anything else we are actually harming ourselves in the end. But we can stop.

Think of all the things you would quit doing if you were trying to do no harm. You would eat less meat, fly less often (or not at all), and divest from all investments in fossil fuels, nuclear, weapons, and tobacco.

War and violence would be totally out of the question and would be relegated to the dust bin of history. These would be replaced with love, and we would become creators rather than destroyers.

Reducing the amount of harm one does leads to doing as much for yourself as possible rather than relying on corporations to provide for us. It would lead to things like cooking for yourself rather than eating fast and prepared foods. Self-reliance and building a supportive, loving community become priorities.

There are many, many other things that would help in becoming less harmful to the environment and all the things living in it. The possibilities are only limited by our imagination. The quest becomes even more exciting because there are always additional things one can do to reach a state of harmlessness, or at least as close as one can get.

Unbelievers like to point out things like, "Carrots feel pain when you pull them out of the ground", and they may be making a valid point - it is unlikely we can ever eliminate harm entirely (sorry carrots). But that does not mean we can't reduce it to an acceptable level.

Perhaps what simple living detractors are really saying is that consumerism is fun, and convenient and easy. Who would want to give all that up? And how exactly does one show their placement in a certain social class if we can't do harm?

The higher we go up the social ladder the more we tend to do harm. This is because we show our wealth by waste and destruction. The more we use and waste, the richer we appear.

If we can reduce the amount of harm we do in our short period on this troubled planet, why wouldn't we choose to do so?

It is simple.

Just cultivate a conscious effort to do no harm. The rest follows naturally.

400 PPM CO2

Our atmosphere recently passed the 400 PPM CO2 level. It is a grim climate change milestone that must be addressed.

98% of climate scientists, every major scientific body in the world and increasingly the general public agree that human greenhouse gas emissions are changing the climate.

Continuing to push the concentration of CO2 higher and higher is a very risky path to follow.

Increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy supply are good ways to lower levels of greenhouse gas production. More important, though, will be changes that lead to simple lifestyles with dramatically lower ecological footprints.

Civilization may depend on how we choose to live right now. We should not be planning for extinction, which is what doing nothing will result in eventually.

The Corporate/Consumer Gift

The corporate/consumer gift keeps on taking.

The corporate/consumer gift is a glittering package that we have laid at the altar of greed. It is a gift that keeps on taking... and taking and taking. And taking.

A recent Oxfam study has shown that the number of billionaires has doubled since this blog began in 2008. The study also found that the planet's richest 85 individuals have as much wealth as the poorest 50% of the population.

If anyone is wondering how much of the Earth's resources corporations wish to access and consume, I have the answer. They want to take it all.

All the planet's primal forests, all the clean water, all the pristine wilderness, all the sweet smelling air, all the fish in the oceans. Everything. Until it is all gone.

Then what?

The corporate/consumer gift that we have created, and perpetuated to near-planetary collapse, is a stylish brick on the accelerator of society, speeding us along to the point of no return. Riding shotgun are pro-corporate, jobs-at-all-costs governments that smooth the way toward the brink by cancelling current environmental laws and preventing new ones from being introduced.

All so the corporate/consumer gift can keep on taking. Most of the stuff we buy is the same - it takes more than it gives.

In order to tame the beast we have created, and take the brick off the gas pedal, we can think about whether we wish to burden ourselves and our loved ones with additional fetters before buying superfluous stuff. Especially around this time of year.

Happy holidays - two more days and the light begins to return.