Overabundance
Overabundance
The other morning as I was driving Tony to his basketball practice we saw a billboard enticing us to play the North Carolina Education Lottery whose current jackpot is $181,000,000. Tony pointed it out and said that I should play it every week so that we would have a chance to win.
Yesterday, when I came home, I walked through the garage, as I normally do, and noticed all of the clutter. There are a number of unused items cluttering the floor. As a matter of fact, we have so much ‘stuff’ that we cannot even get the other car in the garage. I park outside. Mind you, it’s not nearly as bad as some garages that I’ve seen where you can barely walk through, but it’s bad enough. 
Through some serious organizing, shelving, etc. I might be able to get another car in there, but that’s not the point.
We have two freezers. One in the kitchen, that’s part of the refrigerator, and one in the garage. Why? Do we really need two? Why isn’t one freezer enough? I have 4 cameras. 2 digital. 2 film. Why? Can I possibly have use for all 4? I have a number of magazines that I don’t read. Why do I get them? I have one computer and 4 monitors, three of which I need to sell, two tripods, etc. Everything but a partridge in a pear tree! Why has the average home size increased from about 934 sf (1950) to over 2349 sf (2004) and yet the average family size has declined.
Keep it simple
I am amazed at the number of houses that I see throughout the year that have PODS in the yard. PODS are Portable On Demand Storage. Basically, it’s a storage bin where you keep stuff when you’ve run out of space in your house! Why not get rid of the ‘stuff’? Why are we so attached?
Periodically, I go through a contraction phase where I start dumping all of the stuff that I haven’t used for months and see no immediate need for. This morning I called the Salvation Army and donated some clothes, furniture, bicycles, etc. I’d rather donate these items than sell. Mind you not for the tax break, but because it helps someone else out. I’m just passing along what I no longer have use for. When you stop to look at it, even though you bought something, it’s never yours permanently, so why get attached to it?
So, what would I do with all of that money. Honestly, I don’t know. All I do know is that I don’t desire it. More possessions lead to more anxiety. Enough doesn’t seem to be enough. A financial planner once told me that, on average, no matter what the size of the winnings, most lottery winners are broke within 5 years and in more debt than they can ever repay! That’s frightening!
Many think that their worries and troubles would be over. I think the opposite. What would my worries be if I had 181 million dollars? Would I worry about my children being kidnapped? Would I have to move to a large house with a big fence, security dogs, security guards, etc, just to feel safe? How has this helped me? No thank you! Would I have to fend of the countless charities and swindlers vying for the money? I could think of a good many things to do. If I could win it in secret, that would be better. I understand why Dave Chappell was able to turn down $50,000,000. He said that he didn’t want to screw up his life, which is why he lives on a farm in Ohio, rather than living in Hollywood.
Mind you, I am not espousing taking an oath of poverty, but I am saying that for me, I want to have just enough. Right now, I have too much. A room full of treasure cannot be protected forever, it attracts thieves. It creates anxiety to its owner.
I think that this is why I am attracted to very simple photography, especially the type with huge amounts of negative space. Very simple.
Only two tripods. That’s mere beginner status
ps Wan’t to buy a monitor?
When we sold our house and “stuff” in Houston to move Mexico, I realized that I was possessed by possessions. It was very freeing to be relieved of so many possessions that needed to be cared for and stored.
I think the best thing you could ever do if winning a lottery is to keep it a secret, however hard or impossible that may be.
The biggest bonus for me would be to not have to work and have more time to see the various places I have always wanted to go to.
Out of 20 1/2 years of marriage, we’ve lived all of them without a basement and 18 of them without an attic. That has taught us a lot! Now, don’t get me wrong, my house is cluttered! With five kids and two parents with different interests, there’s a lot of “stuff” still there and I’m the biggest collector of the family, but you’re right Paul. We in Western society accumulate too much. We’re looking to fill a void in our lives, a spiritual void and human connection that’s missing and cannot be fulfilled no matter how much we buy…but most never learn that lesson. (Then the grandkids have to clean out those houses of all that “stuff” that someone just couldn’t live without but no one else wants.)
You are a Taoist sage Paul, and I can relate to your wanting your photography to become simpler; I can see it already in your work, and I like what I see!
And amen to getting rid of excess. We as a society have way too much stuff; we’re strangling on it and so are our landfills.
“If you realize you have enough, you are truly rich.” Simple words from a simple man but words we should all take to heart and practice.
Paul, I have a stack of stuff heading to Goodwill. This summer has been a season of decluttering, although I still am not done. One thing you haven’t thought of – if you win a lottery, people would be crawling out of the woodwork, claiming to be your second and third cousins.
Simplicity is definitely less stressful. Can’t take any of it with you at the end of this journey anyway. It’s just Stuff.
I am on a de-cluttering jag right now too. I am buried in clutter and it takes valuable time to manage. About once every 5 years I have a yard sale but I never make much money. Family and friends are always telling me how they make HUNDREDS of dollars. I never do – why do I bother? I would rather die than rent a storage unit. I could never let myself sink that low!
Simplicity – the only way to go – it gives you more time – our greatest resource!
On way of getting rid of old stuff: Being forced to move – that always helped me thinking about those things that I still use, those to which I have a real connection – and those that are just floating around somewhere in the house.
And yes, in my mind we certainly have too many things. Especially those things that we don’t need and only use for impressing people that we don’t know or don’t like.
Of course, photographers are always also gearheads. But (at least in my mind): some people focus far too much on the technology. I’ve seen such a plethora of pictures produced with a brand-new EOS 1D Mark III that are just…hm. Oh well. And it’s not those people who are just beginners, but those that do “photography” for ages and have had each and every Canon DSLR since the D30.
Maybe it’s so much easier to go shopping than to learn?