Lifehacker made a good find today (like they do almost everyday.)
Paul Graham, computer programmer and author, has written a short essay on his blog on his feelings regarding "stuff" and the burden that owning that "stuff" can take on you. You can find the original essay here.
I think he's got a point. I know Julie would disagree with me. She loves her stuff. She loves shopping and furniture and clothing and doodads and thingies, and you know what? That's great.
But that's not me. I like clear, open spaces. I like some stuff, don't get me wrong, but I really feel anxious when I'm around clutter. I think his point is weakened a little bit when he talks about "book clutter" being fluid and not like real stuff. I agree with him when he says that, but I think it weakens his point a little bit.
He talks about Buddhism in the essay, but reading it I was more reminded of Fight Club and it's fight against Ikea culture. "You are not the things in your apartment."
But at any rate though, I like the essay a lot actually and feel a little inspired by it. Maybe I'll go home tonight and carve out a little corner of the clutter for myself.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Against Stuff
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4 comments:
I've been saying the same thing for years. I am very anti-stuff.
This is the main reason I hate Xmas. People who hardly know your tastes anyway, buy you junk you could care less about. What a waste.
As for Fight Club, is one of my faves of all time.
Tyler was right in so many ways. "People work at jobs they hate to buy shit they don't need". Checkmate!
And what is up with knick-knacks? Chotchkies, if you will. I don't really collect anything, but I never got why people lay down money to buy something that just sits there. Some may argue it is art. It ain't art if it has "Made in China" stamped on the bottom!
Life gets easier when you clear out the clutter.
Life gets healthier too. All those knick-knacks just collect dust and that can't be good for your lungs.
I came to this realization long ago from necessity. We live in a very small space. There is just not enough room for the four of us to keep all the stuff we would like to. We get rid of stuff as soon as we no longer need it. Even books. I only keep the books that have changed me in some way. The rest I pass on and if I want to read them again I will get them from the library. I do not feel the need to own what I can easily borrow. I do not keep much sentimental stuff. I have good memories. That's enough. The hubby loves to stop at yard sales but I always ask myself "Is there anything I really need right now?" Most of the time the answer is NO! Right now I still have boxes and boxes of stuff in storage in hopes of some day having a larger house. But every once in a while I go there and tackle a box and get rid of about half of it. So, maybe by the time I have a house I won't have any stuff to put in it.
"Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."
I so agree. I hate clutter and willnever live like that. My mom is a pack-rat, keeps newpapers, magazine articles, TONS of recipes...ect ect. Their basement is a nightmare. My sister will ahve to clean it out when they've decided to join Xenu's spacecraft.
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