Stumble it!
“…go ahead…take a look in your fridge…how many types of mustard do you have…”
ick…these words are inditing.
Why?
Because I have 5. 5 types of mustard. Strangely I eat mustard, oh I don’t know, 6 times in a year, half of those times are at other’s peoples houses too! Does that necessitate 5 types of mustard? Somehow I doubt it.
And on and on it goes…12 polo’s…when I only were 3…2 cars when we really don’t need both…1700 square feet and a ten thousand square foot lot when my small family could comfortably fit into something less…but the strange thing is–I NEED THESE THINGS!
I need the new I-pod.
I need the new MacBook Pro coming out in Q3 2008.
I need those umpteen books that I no longer have room to fit on my shelves.
I need both bikes in my shed…and yes…I needed that oh so amazing mountain bike because I plan to be a serious downhill biker…just like I needed those professional grade back packs for the trek to the Himalaya’s become the trek to the park…
They are all my needs. I need them, then and now. Because…because…because…
5 types of mustard?
Somehow, I’m beginning to wonder if this life requires careful thought. I can’t help but think that this all might look different if I wrote out on a sheet of paper all the duplicates my life held and then got rid of the excess. Sort of a “have two give one” deal…like John the Baptist told the white washed religious rich on the banks of the Jordan who wanted to start over…who wanted to enter the kingdom.
And so for now, maybe I’ll learn to live with less. Maybe there’s a discipline to simply not getting it. That thing that I want and that I need. Maybe waiting and watching and seeing someone else with the better house, better car, better yard, better toys, better computer, better watch, better phone, better TV, better gizmo and gadget, can slow me down. Let them ask these questions…while I learn to sit on the sidelines for a while.
Filed under: justice | Tagged: consumerism, francis of assisi, have two give one, iphone, ipod, john the baptist, mark scandretter, merchants of cool, simplicity, soul grafitti
I’m doing a spending fast this month, only buying the necessities. And it’s amazing what I can talk myself into that I “need.” I am enjoying finding out I really have enough of just about everything.
There are always those special items where the simplicity shoe really pinches too. Sure, we can eliminate the mustards and the casual spending, it’s those things that really cut close to the heart that bug us.
If my video card were to fail in my computer, I would probably go straight away and get a BETTER one, even though I have a workable one sitting on my shelf that is almost as powerful as the one I have now. Why? It’s my personally designed and built monster, my pride and joy, my glowing see-thru Frankenstein box, my baby!
So while I can embrace simplicity (and really have to cause I don’t have money to burn), I have my pets.
“You… you can’t mean my CoMPuTeR!!!!!!”
“My baby is sick, it needs a new video card!!”
(Sonic boom as I rush out the door to Frys to buy a $400 video card.)
Probably if it were a human baby, I wouldn’t be much more attentive. :-\
Where to start? My garage… after all the yard sales over the years, and I still can hardly make my way from the garage door to the laundry room. For me, my garage is a great place to begin getting rid of stuff… and see if that inspires me to go on from there. Thanks for the blog.