It's simple...?

"Consider the birds of the air..."*

“Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them.” Matthew 6:19 CEB

I don’t remember what first led me to consider simplicity. I probably read an article in a magazine – back when I read paper magazines – but for over a decade I’ve been trying to practice simplicity as

1. A lifestyle choice;
2. A spiritual discipline; and
3. A radical act of independence from those who would have us believe that more is better or that happiness is tied to possessions.

When Jay was little, I didn’t deprive him of his latest hoped-for superhero action figure. But we’d often have the talk that this new purchase was going to bring only short-term satisfaction and that it would also prime him to be wanting another one in the not-too-distant future. “Yes, but I want this one now.” (Ah, well, at least we laid some groundwork…)

In the last almost hundred years, we’ve been enculturated to expect that we can go to a store and buy whatever it is we “need”. We’ve been willing subjects to this mind washing. Human beings seem to have a tendency to collect things. A long time ago, it was about keeping something that might eventually save one’s life, or at least prove useful. These days, I suspect it’s more about proving that we have value. Or, that we’re alive.

According to the Self Storage Association, there are 2.3 billion square feet of self-storage space in the U.S. With more than 7 square feet for every person – adults, children, and infants – it’s now “physically possible that every American could stand – all at the same time – under the total canopy of self-storage roofing.”[i]

Many people have started to realize that what our society has been selling us on all these years doesn't satisfy. It doesn’t lead to more life; it only leads to more stuff. And how many kitchen gadgets or lawn decorations or Happy Meal toys does any household need? (I went on a mission trip years ago, and I remember learning as we packed suitcases with toys, that the country we were heading to would not accept fast-food chain toys. Even “those without” recognized that they didn’t want this junk and didn’t want to have to deal with getting rid of it.)

I don’t mean that I’m good at this simplicity thing (I’m not) but I work at it. I like that many of our forebears often had only two or three sets of clothes – one for everyday, one for Sunday, and one in the laundry. Nope, that’ll never happen, but I admire it. And I try to keep the idea in front of me, especially when I’m feeling low, and more vulnerable to the whole “shopping makes one feel better” suggestion.

I’m still waiting for the seachange when people will recognize this affluenza for the dis-ease it is. Still, hopeful signs are emerging as more people choose to buy less, not because they lack the funds, but because it seems the better choice.

Where have you seen a positive difference?

[i] The New York Times Magazine, "The Self-Storage Self," Jon Mooallem, September 2, 2009. nytimes.com/2009/09/06/magazine/06self-storage-t.html?_r=0

* Each year, I eagerly greet the first juncos of fall as they head to northern Wisconsin for winter.