The Invalid Pursuit of Happiness

I’m tired of buying stuff.  Our society tells us to buy things.  And to keep buying things.  We buy a new car every few years, move into bigger and bigger houses and get new clothes every season.  I’m also guilty of it.  I recently used most of my check to purchase a Flip Cam and later I’m probably going to buy some fantastic cargo shorts.  I’m entering my senior year of university and I’m already tired of buying things.  I just want to be able to live comfortably in a small place with a small amount of things and work by doing something I love, or at least like.  It seems that we’ve become so oversaturated with stuff that when we lose it all through disaster or it gets stolen, we lose a part of ourselves.  This is, I believe, to be expected because when our lives change that much we’re a little debased.  However, when we suffer extensive psychological damage when our things are taken from us, there’s a problem.  Furthermore, if the items we own get in the way of our interpersonal relationships, there’s something definitely wrong.

The things you own end up owning you.

-  Fight Club

If all the crap we have in our lives keeps piling up, how do we know what’s really important?  I’m not saying that you should throw everything away and move into the woods and eat berries for the rest of your life.  I’m just saying that in a consumerist culture, it’s a good idea to take a step back and figure out what’s really important.  I suggest going to a third-world country and volunteering or even just to travel to see how others live.  When we look at something other than ourselves and our culture and out items, we can learn a lot.  Hopefully I can take this to heart as well and learn to see simple items as less important than what really matters.