Monday, December 31, 2012

Epiphanies about STUFF

Someone on Freecycle was offering two years worth of current issues of Architectual Digest. I couldn't resist; I have always loved that magazine and so I requested them and was invited to pick them up.

The house where I picked them up was located in a stylish community not far from me, no surprise there. Prarie Crossing has traditional style houses and organic gardens and a nice community theatre and meeting place, an area of hip shops and the whole thing is put together with a refined sense of design. Where you would expect to find AD readers. But I digress.

The shopping bag with two years of magazines was waiting for me on the front porch when I got there. It was actually double bagged with a plastic bag and and a paper shopping bag. I found out why when I picked it up by the paper handles and they almost immediately snapped. Too heavy! The bag must have weighed 35 or 40 lbs. The plastic bag held though and I shlepped the load back to my car and home.

Something about the weight of that bag of magazines spoke to me though. In ECK we call it the Golden Tongued Wisdom. I had thought about possibly using the pictures in the magazines as a resource for making a treasure map. And I would certainly enjoy just relishing all the eye candy in those delicious expensive houses...

The thought was: "Be careful what you wish for!". I'm sure I have had incarnations with great wealth. Living in the relative poverty that I do now, I admit I do dream about having more space, and more nice things.

The weight of that bag reminded me that there is a price to pay for having more stuff. A big house and wonderful things can be a blessing but they can also be a burden. And at the very least they are a big responsibility.

The siren call of materialism surrounds us. I know better though. Somewhere there is a balance. That is what I eternally strive for:)

What I really want is more focus and simplicity in my life. I need less stuff, not more:) What do you really, really want?