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| Responses that I saw to this social media post were overwhelmingly in the "affirmative". |
Over the past few days I've been reading New Year's resolutions as shared on social media with great interest. They've ranged from the standard "get in better shape", "spend more time outdoors", or "clean up my diet" to "spend more time with family" or simply to "live, laugh, and love". In the midst of such goals and to-do lists there has been one idea that seemed to crop up among more often, that being the desire to simplify - scale down, slow down, and "declutter."
This obviously caught my attention. I don't know if it's something that seems to be pervasive just in my social circles or in society as a whole, but the impression that I get is that more people are beginning to look at their lives and come to the realization that they are surrounded by things (and even in some cases, people) that do not bring them peace of mind. I don't know if it qualifies as a full-blown "movement" but it certainly seems to be a trend. Occasionally someone will posit a hypothetical situation in which an offer is made to move to a smaller house, divest themselves of many of their belongings, or abandon wi-fi or social media for a period of time. And from what I have seen, the response to such hypothetical situations is overwhelming positive.
In previous posts I've expressed my own feelings on this subject and believe that while I still have a long way to go I am taking baby steps toward a less cluttered life. I don't know whether I could make a major change like this without causing side effects that would negatively impact the lives of people around me, but I will certainly continue to move toward a more scaled-back existence. It's tougher to back into a simpler lifestyle than it is to start out that way but that doesn't mean it can't be done. Conveniences and comforts to which one has become accustomed are questioned, and things and habits that seem to have value (but don't) need to be sacrificed. In my experience, the outcome of such purges is very liberating.
I just think that it's fascinating that I live in a culture that offers so much - so much stuff, so much food, so much convenience. A vast array of products and services stand ready at our fingertips to bring us convenience, ease, and comfort. An endless stream of advertising and targeted marketing would have us believe that buying this or upsizing that will fill some hole in our lives. If it doesn't, we move on to the next thing.
And yet there are those who feel a sense of discontent with the status quo. People who believe that we don't need all that "stuff" to be happy. People who seek experiences rather than possessions, and who refuse to have their happiness dictated to them by infomercials. I think in some sense ultrarunners fall into this category, to varying degrees. Whether you're talking about the guy who lives out of the back of a truck and travels the world looking for adventure or the busy suburbanite with an 8-to-5 and a family, anyone willing to forsake creature comforts in order to spend hours at a time alone out in remote places eating cold noodles out of a dirty bowl in the middle of the night has to have some feeling that life isn't only about being comfortable all the time.
While I am pretty solidly in the latter category I do hope that suburban life hasn't completely taken my sense of adventure and made me addicted to creature comforts. I also hope that the process of de-owning will help me learn more about the real value of the things and experiences in life that are truly important.
Over the course of this new year I intend to continue my slow but steady drive toward "less" in a material sense. I hope that it carries over into the other aspects of my life as well. Because I am finding out that, as they say, less is more.
