To have less is to have more

The natural inclination of human beings is to “hunt and gather” … this was so in the earliest days of humanity and remains in the “modern” world … its character is the same even if what is hunted and gathered has changed. For most of us, that means “stuff” … the more the better. But at some point the roles between the owned and the owner become reversed. You think you own your stuff but your stuff actually takes on a life of its own and begins to own you… or perhaps put differently, you begin to be owned by your stuff. Freeing yourself from your “gatherings” and “hunting” less can actually be uplifting. The sense of loosening the chains of bondage forged between you and your accumulations can actually be liberating … an awakening … the lifting of the repressive cloud of “ownership” of things you think you want and need but really don’t. Realizing the freedom that comes from simplifying and whittling down your piles of booty is akin to undergoing an ontological metamorphosis. To be continued ...