A Rich Life is full of Experiences, not Things
There are 3 days left of Natalie's Blog Challenge but I plan to add new pages to the site and keep blogging. The topic will transition from life management to photography but I have had a great time writing every day and reading everyone's responses. The topic today is all about eliminating the clutter from our lives and I definitely agree with Natalie in that is is better to cultivate a life full of experiences rather that belongings. At least once a year I already try to go through all my things and sell or donate as much as I can. It's gotten to the point where I really own very little and it's funny how much junk can bog you down mentally beyond just taking up space.
This topic reminds me of a really interesting photography project called Material World by Peter Menzel, in which he photographed families from all over the world along with all of their belongs. The contrasts between these images are very thought-provoking and it makes me wonder; why do we really need so much crap?
"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need". -Fight Club
I've decided that I don't want to be tied down by my belongings. I want to have the freedom to live out of a suitcase and travel with ease without worrying about the expense or the responsibility of storing things I don't use. It's a work in progress but this month I sold some extra Jeep parts and traded in my snowboard, but i'm not stopping there. I'll be happy if I can fit all of my belongings into my car and if I can get to the point where everything fits in a suitcase, that's even better. I've got a whole box of old stuff and I'm tackling a little bit at a time with the help of Craigslist, Ebay and Goodwill. Freecycle is also a really great way way to give things away for free if you don't want to make drop-offs.
