Popout
“You are a slave Neo.” Morpheus (ht)
Over the last several months my wife and I have been having a conversation around consumption. There is an illusion of happiness embedded within consumerism and consumption. And we buy it. It’s the system we grew up in. We were told to “buy” before we knew what was good for us. And when we were in crisis, the President continued the system, telling us to “Shop” in stead of heal or forgive.
My wife said to me just yesterday, as we pondered some major changes in our lives, “When we’re on our death bed, I don’t think we would say, ‘I wish I had bought more stuff.’” She was right. When all is said and done, stuff holds little value. It’s meaning is an illusion we’ve been sold but also bought. And it weighs us down.
But we do have a choice in the matter. As a good friend of mine once told me, “We don’t have to live like this.” What would it mean to embark on a journey towards less stuff? What would it mean to invest in people and experiences as opposed to a newer car or a bigger house. I’ve said it many times. I’ve met three billionaires in my life and they were all miserable human beings. More does not mean more happiness. Wealth simply means we get to choose our problems.
