Possesive posessions

Over the last few years I have been thinking about all that I have accumulated. And when you start to think about how much junk you have, you start to realise that more than half of it is useless.

When I sat down to really think about it, I reckon 99% of what I own is a burden. One I could do without.

Why are we so insistent on having all these things? Why can't we just ignore the Jones' and make our own lives happier by leaving all that crap behind and making do with what we need instead of over indulging on what we want.

I'm not going to preach and then lie. I have a life that's filled with unnecessary crap. I have a couple of laptops, when I only need one. I have a desktop PC, when I don't even need one at all. I have a TV that's too big, a fridge that's too big and if I look around at everything else. There are only two or three important things for me. My wife, my house and my guitar.

Sure, you need a fridge. And entertainment is nice. But we don't really need them. They're just conveniences. Our stove is broken, but rather than buy a new one, we just use an old burner that does the job.

I write this post because we all live a life of excess. I do it, you do it. Why?

We work. Why? To pay for these things. What if you lived off the land, you land? You wouldn't need so much work. You could get by with a few dollars, and the rest of your time you work your land. You'd have to in order to survive.

And that's really my point. The responsibility for survival has changed. No longer do you have to grow your own food or hunt it. You just buy it. You don't have to build your own dwelling. You buy a house, or pay to have one made for you.

How can a meagre lifestyle be lived in a society so full it's exploding?

Do you become an outcast? Hop in your car and drive around in the sticks?

You would have to, because if you stopped working you won't be able to afford your mortgage, rent, bills, rates, land tax, etc.

Because of this, you would be stamped as a hobo, a tramp, a bum. Why?

Because society has a preconceived image of what the ideal life should be like?

My wife and I love the idea of retiring, selling everything we have, buying a mobile home of some description and living somewhere new each day.

How will this be possible? We gotta work hard to build up savings to be able to live off them comfortably when we're not building that savings fund. With our only hope being that it lasts until we die.

That's the dark side of it all. Either way to look at it, you need money. Whether it's a little or a lot. Even the motor home will need maintenance, fuel, parts, and so on. It's going to have to be paid for somehow.

And after all that's said and done, while I have harped on about this subject in a different guise once before.... you need some cash to free yourself from this current lifestyle.

One of my friends father retired and escaped the rat race to live in the country side. He bought a place and now lives off his savings. When they get low, he goes into town and cleans windows for shop owners. Does the odd weeding for people with large properties and gets by. I guess there's always a way to do things to get by. My wife and I recently sat down to enjoy a few episodes of The River Cottage. And it's inspirational to see how someone can drop it all and go follow their passion and to see if it can be done.

Most of the people I follow in other blogs have done just that. And I'm using their thankfulness to share their experiences as a learning tool to get me started on the right path. One day I'll be able to turn around and wonder not how I accumulated all this crap, but where did it all go? Hopefully to someone else who needs it more than me. And I can set myself free from the artificial umbilical cord society grafts to you from your first breath to your last.

Ask and you shall receive.

This and other sayings like "if you never go, you'll never know." are funny. Funny because they're true.

If you've been following my breadcrumb trail I've been leaving along this blog, you'll have noticed that I'm making some changes to my life, my lifestyle and my work. Mainly my work, but in turn that is going to affect my life. I've started to wind down my IT business and pick up more music related jobs. Something that involves creativity, not surrounding myself with problems people experience with their computer, and not to mention the depressed state they're in because they don't back up!

Ask, and you shall receive. I asked for this. I asked for challenges in music and I got it.

I asked for more music, more opportunities to play music live, and I got it. In fact I've just about received everything I've ever asked for.

It's funny because it's amazing how it works. I told myself I want more live music opportunities and now I'm getting them. It's scary, but I'm loving every second of it.

I've asked for this, and I've received it. It makes me wonder how much of the bad stuff did I ask for in the past that brought that upon me? Then I look at a couple of my troubled mates who also suffer the same consequences I use to. They're over 30 years old now and still have a lot of growing up. I wonder what they asked for to get what they got.

Happy with nothing

You'd have to agree when I tell you, people are happy with nothing.

My recent trip to Fiji only reminds me of this fact, as most of the people can't afford a loaf of bread and resort to begging or stealing.

Yet, while speaking to a local, he struggles, but he is happy. He wouldn't trade what little he has for one day of my life back here in Sydney. He's happy with what little he has. He has nothing to lose. He has no cares, worries or hindrances other than waking up, working during the day to feed the family at night, and it repeats itself over and over again.

Compare that to a local here in Sydney. We do exactly the same thing. Go to work, earn something to support our family, come home to dinner and go it all again tomorrow. So where's the difference?

We have the new car, the flash TV, laptops, new homes, wants.

The last point is probably the biggest one. Wants.

Because we're conditioned to give in to desire. We see it on TV (which is probably why I don't watch it). We see it in magazines, hear it on the radio, hear about it from friends.... keeping up with the Jones' as they say.

When you look at any country that is considered poor, and I hate that word, "Poor". I think that these countries are rich. Their values are rich. It's all about family, providing and helping each other out. There are exceptions, a few desperate souls who snoop to stealing and begging. But under the circumstances, you can see why, and you accept it.

However, everyone has the same opportunity, the same chance to make something of what they have, regardless of how much or how little they have. It's not about how much resources you have, but how resourceful you are.

Some will look at this and say you're compromising. Others can look at it and say you're just making do. Either way, if the result is the same, who cares?

I tell you who.... Us. The consuming population. The guys like me who love their gadgets, love flat screen TV's. But I'm a man of contradictions. I'm a hypocrite. As much as I love all these devices, the bells, the whistles. I also despise them. I dislike them. I can do without them.

Family in Fiji were shocked that I left my laptop and mobile phone at home. I told them. I'm here, I'm switched off. And I can stay that way for years. I know I can. But since I have the choice not to. I'm here on my laptop, writing more thoughts and already thinking about my next blog entry.

Does this make me happy. Well, it offers me comfort. But I wouldn't say it makes me happy. When I sat there listening to the local Fijian bloke talk about how his life is hard, but simple. He wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world. I sat there green with envy.

However, one thought crossed my mind, and while speaking about migrating to Fiji to the wife on the plane, she had the same feeling too. What would be do there? We also dislike the total anti-pride in work that everyone does. No one seems to care if something is done write or wrong. It's done, now can I leave to go home and drink?

The Fijians, while hard workers, are lazy. The Indians (a high number of them live there), are hard workers, but they are Indian, and if you've been to India, read or heard about it, there's the way the rest of the planet works, and there's how India works. There's a TED talk on it, and it's from an Indian who says that how they work is very different to the entire planet. It's true, and if you're not accepting of it, it'll drive you mad.

Much like driving in Fiji. Westerns seem to tell me they hate it, it's chaos. I always tell them I love the chaos. I love the overtaking on the wrong side of the road. I love the lack of indicating. It's like driving in Italy, but slower. Since everyone is so lazy, the speed at which they drive at is too. It's faster to walk through town, but driving through the chaos is more fun. And since you're only crawling along, but still making good pace, you get to places, you push and shove otherwise you'll end up at the back. You'll have cars and busses on your side of the road because they'd rather run over your car than hit that huge pot hole that seems to cover every single street in the country.

But I've really digressed now. These people are happy with nothing. And if you look at other countries with similar lifestyles, South America, Africa, you'll see that the people there are some how better off. Better off with life. Compare that to a millionaire and you'll see that while they might be showing a smile, I bet it hides a mountain of worries. Worries of losing their millions, their possessions. They lifestyle.

While I'm no millionaire. As much as the Fijian lifestyle appeals to me, I'm not going to lie and say I'll do it now. In fact I'm not sure I have the guts to change over to that at all. I'm not doing to lie and say I'd do it. I'd more there for a happier life. I am hypocritical, but I'm no liar. I might move there. One day my wife and I might genuinely get fed up with paying off our mortgage, paying endless bills, trying to keep up with the Jones', trying to buy the latest TV or iPhone or whatever. I know I'd be happier. But can I let go? The answer is, no for the moment. I can't. But I know I must. And when that happens, you'll hear about it.

Happy with nothing. I'm sure this works.

What do you really need?

After reading another blog and me asking the question, what do you really need? I thought I'd talk about exactly that.

Many people, myself included have too much crap. We consume, we buy more. In a society where we'll buy a product because it comes with more you have to wonder, is retail therapy really an issue or are we all just hooked on having the next best thing?

I guess I'll cut a long story short. What do you really need?

Now, we all know food and water are a necessity. But what do you need that isn't so important to your life. Stuff that you could give up, but at the same time it's one of those things you couldn't live without.

Is it your TV? Internet? Car?

I thought about this and realised that apart from a few pieces of clothing and some guitar strings, which is what my blogger friend above said in a comment. I don't really need much else.

So, what do you really need if you were to live on a deserted island, or any favourite remote part of the world? A deck of cards? A drum? A book?