I decided that I had one too many large tables this week thats primary function just served to collect plates and trash.
I got rid of it and sort of had an existential moment of realization. I’m scraping the barrel on minimalism. Last year I moved into a small tent full time. Downsized my bed to a cot, made my own solar system, pump my water, and got rid of all my trinkets and toys.
I just don’t have much left to get rid of. Not much left to store or organize. No need for large tables, my smaller collapsable tables do what I need. All thats left is bare essential appliances, clothing, bedding, and daily use devices. just a little more I wouldn’t even need a shelf anymore.
I feel free. Like a weight is being lifted off of me. Possessing means maintenance and emotional attachment to objects. Each thing I get rid of feels like a win, like I’m letting go of something that I didn’t really need. The few things that stay I truly appreciate for what they provide me in life.
But I feel like I’m kind of weird for feeling these way. Its the societal norm to collect things, compare social status with objects, show off your ideaologoies and interest by decorations. The ‘dream’ for most people is a big home to fill with a spouce, kids, and things.
People get mad at the idea of ‘pod life’ and ‘owning nothing and being happy’, which I understand its about being g forced into poverty not minimalistic zen type letting go of attachment. But I personally feel like theres too much hoarding and consumerism in daily life.
I wish that nomadic minimal lifestyles were looked better upon by society and not equated to homelessness. I don’t have any stuff tying me down I want to explore my country without monthly apartment rents in an old van. Why is that wrong? Because I’m not making taxable property income or stimulating the economy with constant purchase?
I had the realization last night as I was struggling to do the dishes and fold my laundry that it is evolutionarily unnatural for humans to have so much stuff to take care of. Like, we spent most of our existence as humans living in highly mobile bands with the bare necessities for survival plus ceremonial items.
It’s no wonder that I don’t want to spend time thinking about what I’m going to wear every morning and that I’m happy to wear the same comfortable outfit every day. Most humans in history had like a single outfit with optional modifications for weather and ceremony.
It’s no wonder that I get overwhelmed with a ton of food in my fridge and that most of it ends up going bad because I can’t eat it all. I’m supposed to be cooking what’s immediately available and sharing that food with my band members so there are no leftovers.
It’s no wonder that I don’t want to scrub toilets or vacuum. My brain evolved to have a one or two room tent or wooden structure to maintain.
It’s no wonder that I don’t want to sit in a box all day and stare at a box that has shapes and colors on it, looking for meaning. I would rather listen to my friends tell stories and spend my days fixing a few tools as needed and finding food. I want to find meaning in relationships, in other people, not in screens and complex organizations.
I could go on.
Love this
Thanks. Talking about this stuff has been getting me weird looks from other people. Modern civilization is so ingrained that people haven’t thought to recognize the water they’re swimming in, and forget that the lifestyle we have today is less than 200 years old, and that’s it’s all escalating in an unsustainable way….