Thoughts and Queries of a Single Mother, an Artist, and a Student.

I remain steadfast in my quest for an improved happiness. I continue to be inspired by the ventures of the brave Gretchen Rubin. Everyday I implement new happiness rituals whilst attempting maintenance of the most effective.

My de-cluttering attempts I so enthusiastically raved about last week have proven to be an unerring path to abundant happiness boosts. I open my closet doors and I am filled with a sense of excitement and calm as my eyes fall upon my neatly folded garments laterally cascading by color and style. There is something amazingly calming about order. All the unused crap I possess has been cluttering my mind more than my shelves. This realization got me thinking on an age old question.

What is it that drives our Western obsession with STUFF?

I wanted to make sure that the things I felt compelled to hold on to would actually be put to use. I started looking at my own possessions. If the house was burning down, what would I take? Every item on that list was something that represented something non-material; memories, aspirations, accomplishments. Why was it that I needed something tangible to remind me of these immaterial wealths? Possessing these things created feelings that I valued. Napoleon said,

“Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.”

The first item on my list was of course my photos. Pictures of loved ones provide feelings of love and safety. A new happiness ritual discovered! I quickly made space to display more framed family photos so that I am constantly reminded of these feelings. I’ve also made a point to print out more photos from my digital gallery so that I can use these possessions rather than constantly amplifying my collection. True to family form, the next most important of my earthly goods were my books. Existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre said,

“Though I did not yet know how to read, I have already reversed those standing stones, upright or leaning over… I felt that our family’s prosperity depended on them. Permanence guaranteed me a future as calm as the past.”

For him as for me, books represented both the possibility and the accumulation of knowledge. They provide a guarantee that the wisdom will never be lost. The obsessive acquisition and subsequent accumulation of my library was simply my innate curiosity manifesting in the physical form. I couldn’t possibly discard any of my books, but I have become more organized so that more are utilized. The only other things that would be saved from my theoretical burning building were various family relics and mementos such as jewelry and Sidney’s first pair of shoes, all more physical representations of safety and love. Of course the bare essentials of daily necessity for Sidney and I would be taken… including my all important creative tools (iMac and Nikon.)

The most important lesson of our story of stuff, is that it is not our possessions that define us, but what we do with them and ultimately with ourselves.

For Thought…

“Possessions are usually diminished by possession.” -Friedrich Nietzsche

“Riches do not exhilarate us so much with their possession as they torment us with their loss.” -Epicurus

Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff