100 Item Living
| June 26th, 2008 by Robert | Word Count: 1237 | Reading Time 4:58 | 2,668 views |
Yesterday, I ran across a simple article discussing a “movement,” as they described it, involving people living on less. To be more specific, they are trying to de-clutter their lives to less than 100 possessions. They cited a few advantages for living this way: helping the environment by consuming less, de-cluttered living is less stressful, and possessing left is by far a cheaper way of living. These are all very good reasons to start living on less. So, I decided to write a bit about this “movement” and see where it takes me. As before, I don’t have an outline or set items to write about, we’ll just see where we go as the pencil hits the paper.
While reading this article, I immediately began to think about 100 possessions I “need” to live a normal life with. In this statement, the word normal shows up. Are we currently living normal lives? Would past generations look at how we are living and think we are normal? I don’t really think so. Normal has become equivalent to excessively normal. The American mindset it to move forward, gain more, own more, make more. More… more… more… Have you ever heard anyone truthfully just lay their lives out on the table and say they are satisfied with their situation? While it’s possible, it is very highly unlikely. There is ALWAYS something MORE to do or have. Satisfaction is rare and very short lived if ever experienced it seems.
Let’s take a look at our “normal” lives. The average American family has multiple vehicles, multiple televisions, multiple computers, multiple this, multiple that, multiples of everything. Sure, there are rational arguments for everything just stated, but are they necessary? If you went through your house 1 item at a time and decided if it were absolutely necessary for your survival and happiness, what do you think your house would look like after you were done? Would it be barren? Would you be able to fill a small (or even large) house with the stuff you have deemed unnecessary from this exercise? Are you thinking about what you have right now? It’s hard not to. 100 items don’t go very far. I can probably fill the 100 in a single look inside my DVD cabinet of must have movies. Or, I could look in my bookcase and probably pick out 100 must have books. Is must have or important equivalent to necessary though? No.
We have all fallen prey to the desires of more in our lives. We NEED more. Without it, we are falling behind. Our society and media pushes the “desires” upon us as we grow and live. We are trained to want more and we are rewarded for having more. We believe we are successful with having more of everything. However, the years of excess and more are taking their toll on our lives. We are damaging our environment by consuming more and replacing less. Our lives are over stressed from the pursuit of more and clutter invades our home lives. The family finances are being destroyed by the pedal to the metal approach to having more. When did our society go from satisfied by having a healthy and loving life with family to one where satisfaction is never obtained and also runs our personal worlds dry in the attempt to reach the pinnacle of more?
I believe that our past generations would view us as having an insane need of more. They would literally shake their heads in disgust at how we live our lives. They survived happy lives with maybe 5% of what we have at our disposal. Sure, their lives were physically harder than ours, but is that a bad thing? I think physically making your way is the ultimate way of obtaining satisfaction. You physically EARN your living. Our world of mental labor is not true to our human nature. We are built to be workers. We are built to use our hands. Our mental ability is an added bonus. The American way is to find a nice job where physical labor is nothing but a minor portion of activity. However, while our unfocused minds are multitasking, we are often thinking about more of this or more of that. We are defining action plans about how to get to the next this or that. How do we obtain the next possession? We spend our time continuing to think about more.
However, as the article stated, there are people who are trying to reverse this trend. Whether they are doing it in an effort to save the environment, or save money, or just to de-clutter their own lives, they are choosing to WANT less. They are making an effort to return to normalcy. Their lives are returning to a level of life that is satisfied with less “stuff.” I’m sure it is very difficult to reach a point where 100 items is satisfactory. However difficult it may be, is the tradeoff of destroying our environment, spending more money, and stressing our lives worth keeping more? I don’t think so. Personally, I know it would be VERY difficult to achieve a 100 item list of possessions in my life. I said difficult, not impossible. Our lives can revolve around less. Our past generations proved that time and again.
Can we start with a larger number so that this concept doesn’t uproot and destroy our current state of living? Can’t we ease into this type of living? Sure, as long as there is a path towards a return to normalcy. 100 is an arbitrary number, it is something to shoot for. Maybe the appropriate number for your family is 200. That’s for you to decide. But remember, look at stuff differently. Make decisions about buying stuff differently. Change the training methods we have all learned from society and the media. It will take some time, but it can be done. Begin to teach new methods to your family and children that having excess is not necessary. Teach them that satisfaction can be achieved. We are not competing with our neighbors to see who has more of everything. If we follow these new methods, our past generations can look upon us without dissatisfaction.
The one thing we should focus upon going forward is our family’s quality of life. Quality does not mean quantity. Quality means are they satisfied, are they fed, are they safe, are they cared for, are they properly clothed, etc. Quality does not mean do they have the latest video game console, the latest movie, the latest toy, the latest electronic gadget, etc. Those are all excess items and not truly necessary. I am not supporting the removal of every single thing in life so that living becomes unhappy or unsatisfactory. I am saying to actively think about the impacts of the purchase decisions that are made. Some additional, non-necessary items are ok. A household full of them is not. Can we challenge ourselves to try and come up with a list of items we must have? I am going to challenge myself, I hope you do also. Take the stuff that you find unnecessary and have a nice yard sale or donate it to a family that could use a nice surprise. Our lives can return to normalcy and this is a simple and also difficult way to reach that point!
Citation: http://greenopolis.com/myopolis/blogs/liv-greene/can-you-live-with-just-100-things
on June 27th, 2008 at 8:26 pm:
When I first started reading this article, I was cringing out of embarrassment. I sure have been guilty of getting, getting, getting. It’s easy to do, when you grow up without a lot of stuff and then when you get older you say to yourself you ‘deserve’ it or you’ve ‘earned’ it. PLEASE! We’ve done neither. When will it ever sink in our brains that we have what we have because God has blessed us and for no other reason? The arrogance of it is pathetic! It’s like saying that those who have nothing aren’t as good as you are, since you have more?? That’s crazy!!! Perhaps we could use that thought to stop the buying when we use our pitiful excuses to justify it.
Has anyone ever heard of Flylady? She is big on “decluttering”. It’s the main source she has to getting one’s life out of the chaos. (www.flylady.net)
on June 28th, 2008 at 8:58 am:
Yes, the ability to “get” is in fact a blessing. We have fallen into the thinking of “I deserve.” I truly believe that “I need” has actually been replaced by “I deserve” or “I want.” Our mindsets are totally different than our past generation’s mindsets. We focus on extra possession in our lives to satisfy when what we have is more than enough. We can never fill the never ending hole of desire but yet we continue to try.
We must allow ourselves to find satisfaction in what we have. Happiness with less is worth more than happiness with more. I truly believe that. There is a saying, “More money, more problems.” I relate that to “More stuff, more problems.” Anytime we focus on more, we will never reach the end.
on June 29th, 2008 at 12:57 pm:
I remember the first time that I moved,I only needed a car to move all of my STUFF. When we moved from Missouri to Arizona we rented the biggest U Haul that we could get,plus a pickup load,a car load and a trailer to haul an old car on. This was after selling off a lot of STUFF and or giving STUFF away. I would think that a lot of people including myself would have to start around the 2000 mark just for starters,and then work down.
If we were to run our home like a business where every square foot was worth x amount of dollars,then we would be throwing away a lot of STUFF. Why do we build or buy bigger homes just to pile it up with STUFF? Our city,county,state and federal government loves this because they can collect more taxes. We are paying more to heat and cool our oversize homes,after all, our STUFF needs to be in a temperature controlled enviornment. Right?
Can you imagine the money we could save if we just bought and kept or used what we really need? Get rid of the vehicles that sit in the garage or in the driveway that only gets driven a few hundred miles a year. If for example you sold a very seldom used car for $2000.00, you wouldn’t have to pay for oil changes,gas, taxes, licenses,insurance and all of the other expenses that come with owning a vehicle.If you needed to call a cab every once in a while, You probably would never have to touch the initial $2000.00 that you got for your vehicle.
I believe that if everyone would just buy and keep or use what they actually need,that in just a few years we would not be dependant on the oil supplys from other countries. I know that I rambled on about this but just starting with just a small thing as “100 Item Living” could change the whole outlook for the next generations.
on June 29th, 2008 at 7:47 pm:
STUFF seems to multiply over time doesn’t it? We never replace anything, we just continually add to the pile. The 2000 mark is probably closer to reality as you mention for the vast majority of us. I believe that if we weren’t so enthralled with having this STUFF, our nation’s financial crisis would be a lot better. People would be a lot more comfortable in their position and more than likely have a LOT more discretionary spending cash.
It all starts with us training our minds to focus on something outside of what the society and media lead us to “want.” If we can return to “Normal Living,” everyone will be better off even if the conglomerates that feed us empty products whither away. They will be replaced by necessary companies and their products will be worthwhile and not just STUFF filling our households.
on July 1st, 2008 at 10:27 pm:
While reading this article, I began to think of all I have in my house. And I pretended to look at each room as though I was looking through another’s eyes, I saw things that I could not defend any reason I still have this object in my house. You know how easy it is to look at the possessions, nick knacks, etc of anothers and think, why do they still hold on to that piece of junk or that ugly toy, or maybe that funny looking whatever it may be. But those things mean nothing to you, things you could throw away so easily.
Not so for the person who lives with all this stuff everyday. This stuff is a part of them, every time they look at an item, they remember when they acquired it. It is their memories, their life. I will pick up something to put in the yard sale or to give to someone I think would enjoy it more than me. But before it leaves my house I somehow, sometimes find a reason to bring it back to it resting place in my home. It is so hard, once you get older, to let go of stuff you know you would be better off without.
This stuff is my comfort zone, I don’t feel so lonely or alone, when I have all this stuff to keep me company. But on the other hand, I long for the day, I can let go of it all. For I know it is just clutter, and how I will feel free if I can just get to the point to say take it, I don’t care about it anymore. So my goal is to believe this stuff is just stuff and see it as others do, worthless, better to be free of it, to be happier once it is gone. Make new, better memories with people not stuff.
on July 1st, 2008 at 10:47 pm:
There is a difference between having stuff to just have stuff and having possessions that are there because of their personal or sentimental value. Sentimental possessions are some of the most comforting things we have in our lives and they help us feel at home. As you say, they are viewed by others as potentially nonsense items, but they mean a lot to the individual.
I think the ideal of this article is focused on stuff to just have stuff. We must keep our memories close to us and in our minds so that we feel comforted. Sometimes, during bad days, they help make it better. Memories live forever and the reminders of them bring them out more often.
Clutter is something we can all do away with, but I am a firm believer that our possessions of memory belong in our lives and home. Don’t let them go just to have less because they are a part of you! But as you say, we can all make new memories, but the past memories are very important too.