| I accidentally left my suitcase on the Gatwick Express airport train this morning, containing practically everything I now own save for my passport, ukulele and current Macbook Air, which were all on my person... I only realised 10 minutes later when I got to the check-in desk. As I was on the shuttle back to the train, I started laughing. Everything I own? That's everything I own? I realised I didn't need any of it. A bit of a cliché, sure, and I'm a comfortably-off 25-year old single white male, apparently. When I got to the platform, I found my suitcase sitting on the train, about to trundle off into the morning. I looked at the case, a full 21kg of junk - the last 21kg - and suddenly felt weighed down, as if all these things were a constant restraint. One suitcase. There is a movement towards casting off our possessions to discover who we are; it's a tired story, as old as the hills. It points to the moon but it's not the moon. The junk we most want to lose, and most deserve to realise our freedom from, is metaphorical, it's spiritual baggage, attachments to stuff. My point here: if one suitcase of stuff is enough to be a mental burden, then when will I be happy? When there's nothing left? What about this body? Why not shed that also? You can have a monk in the Himalayas with more 'stuff' than the executive with a condo full of Ikea furniture. It doesn't matter. Depth and space are created (no, discovered) when we lose the attachments, not when we lose the stuff. Losing the stuff can be helpful and healthy, but it's not the ultimate truth. In truth, it's even a distraction for many. So I read this post and my laughter increased. All this stuff: it's all a joke! Just some thoughts as they come. |
That doesn't work if who you authentically are is an artisan, or at least for some arts.
Some artisans/craftsman/hobbyists/makers/whatever are incredibly lucky WRT fitting the whole "throw your stuff away" meme. Your ukulele fits in your arms. Good for you. I need a forklift to move my larger metalworking machines.
If I threw away all my tools, it wouldn't really help me as a tool creator/user.
"Losing the stuff can be helpful and healthy, but it's not the ultimate truth."
I'm convinced a lot of the push for it comes from profit seeking intermediaries. Sell you a hammer every year, so you use it once and throw it out. I occasionally still use some of my grandfathers inherited tools, which must put those people into fits.