It often seems as if our whole purpose in life is to consume, to get bigger and better jobs so we can buy bigger and better things. But things just aren’t that important to me. I value experiences.
One desirable side effect of my decision to pack up and be a semi-vagrant for a while is the need to get rid of some things and do without other things. Our culturally-ingrained need to acquire is a strong force that sometimes requires conscious effort on our part to resist. As Thoreau once wrote, "Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify. Simplify." I am looking forward to seeing just how much I can simplify.
After I store my furniture and other stuff at my brother’s house, I will climb into my car and head toward Washington D.C. with the following things: my mountain bike, my TV (yes, it relieves boredom), my laptop, my camera, some clothes, and probably my pillow.
Don’t get me wrong, I still hope to get a bigger and better job. But I think my definition of “bigger and better” is different. I am looking for a gateway to accumulate more experiences, not more things.
The French have an old saying that strikes me as being fundamentally and profoundly true; Ne pas posséder, être. Not to possess. To be.
On a lighter, and at least somewhat relevant note, you can always count on the folks from The Onion for a good chuckle. The video below is a (very profane!) commentary on our desire to get the newest, latest, greatest, biggest thing. How many things do we really need?
A word of caution; it is totally not safe for work, children, sober Southern Baptists or sensitive ears.
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