I grew up in a family of modest means. We had what we needed but I always desired the name brand stuff. I didn’t know at the time I was growing up to be a massive consumer of stuff.
When I got my first full time job I began accumulating stuff. I was into cars, car racing, car showing, cruising…. If it had 4 wheels, I was into it. Many of my friends looked upon cars as merely transportation; I was appalled at their insensitivity towards these beautiful works of art.
As I collected more car stuff I had to get more stuff to maintain it. I built a shop, bought tools and massive tool boxes. My shop then had to have nice cabinets, entertainment, and air-conditioning. The shop raised my utility and maintenance costs. It also raised my property taxes.
Then I wanted to watch more car stuff so I bought a satellite dish. I’m not talking about the little ones we have now. My first dish was a 10 foot c band monstrosity. I paid for the dish and the monthly programming. That thing was always shifting out of tune due to high winds in my area. I spent many evenings trying to get it back in tune so I could absorb more car stuff.
Eventually we changed to one of the new, small digital dishes. It provided better quality viewing and stayed in tune. I again paid for the box, dish, and monthly subscriber fees. I also spent many hours sitting in my lounger watching more car stuff.
After a while my shop and my house were full of car stuff. At that time I was a modern version of “Hoarders” that is popular on TV now.
I began the planning process to build a new house and shop with the total square feet of 100,000 just to store my stuff. This meant more debt, more utilities, and more taxes.
This also meant more time and overtime that I had to spend at work to pay for it all.
Now, I wasn’t exactly enamored with my job. In fact, my job kinda made me sick some days.
It finally occurred to me that I was a prisoner to my stuff. I had to work at my job to keep my stuff. I had to weigh my values; did I like the stuff more than I did not like my job?
The result was a massive stuff reduction for about a year. We sold stuff. We gave stuff away. We tried not to dump stuff in the trash but some was not worth anything except to me.
It’s amazing how liberating it is to have stuff reduction. It’s also amazing at how big my house is without the stuff.
I still find stuff and stuff still finds me but I do have more resistance, now, to getting more stuff. I am far more selective about what stuff is allowed to occupy my space and time. I do not have a satellite and I do not pay for watching what little TV I do watch.
I learned that, in the beginning you own your stuff. In the end your stuff owns you.
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