Don’t you just love the excitement you feel after coming home with a new TV?Driving home in a new car?Opening the box on a new pair of shoes?
I sure do.But,from watching the behavior of myself and my friends I’ve found that the new quickly becomes just another item.The excitement of novelty passes quickly.
As we become wealthier,people seem to be adding more and more things to our homes.We then use our homes,and our treasures,to justify that we have won the game of life.Growing up in a family of pack-rats,I spent many years in my teens and early twenties accumulating stuff.During this time,much of my self-worth was unconsciously associated with the amount of stuff I owned; the brand names,and the latest trends.I spent a lot of money on clothes and stuff that made me feel ‘superior’.They gave me a sense of identity.If I just removed these things without awareness,my ego would have suffered.I had grown so attached to that definition of myself,that my loss would have been much deeper than just the cute sweater.
Not only did I not find myself in all this,I’ve also accumulated a lot of clutter in my living space and my inner space.Ironically,the piles of stuffactually held me back from understanding and inner peace with myself.
We are so eager to fill our homes,yet so disinterested in cleaning it out.As a result,we now require larger spaces,more storage space,and more clutter for the mind.Did you know that there are more self-storage facilities in North America than there are McDonald’s restaurants?We find it difficult to reduce the amount of stuff we own is due to our attachment to these things.
