We live in a culture of wants. It’s no secret. Everywhere you look, you see covetable stuff. Shiny stuff. Pretty stuff. Fancy stuff. Cool stuff. I admit, I like stuff; however, I am also overwhelmed by it all.
The first thing I vividly remember wanting–with every pleading fiber of my nine-year-old self–was a pair of Nike sneakers. Ones with a lavender swoosh, like Amy Gardner’s. I also wanted a baseball tee shirt with a silk-screened unicorn on the front and my name in fuzzy letters on the back. And a Cabbage Patch Kid (and another Cabbage Patch Kid). And let’s not forget the Hello Kitty erasers and scratch-and-sniff stickers. I got all of those things, and pretty much everything else I’ve wanted for over the years.
Whoop de doo.
Want is an insatiably hungry beast. It took me a good, long time to realize all that stuff just gets in the way of truly living. My happiness has little to do with designer handbags or $200 jeans or a yoga wardrobe full of Lululemon gear. I am more than the sum of my possessions–and you are, too.
Last weekend I watched Into the Wild, and the message has been haunting me ever since: stuff does not equal happiness. As circumstance would have it, I’ve been a student of this philosophy for the last six months. While I would give anything not to be in this situation, it is perhaps the most valuable lesson I’ve ever learned, distinguishing want vs. need.
“Until you have it all you won’t be free.”
– “Society” by Eddie Vedder
In order to experience that sense of freedom, you have to come to terms with the fact that you already have everything you need. Trust. Dig deep. Look in the way back of your closet. I promise, whatever you’re looking for is there–as long as you’re willing to be creative.
Can you cultivate your own definition of happiness–of “having it all”–with only the resources at your fingertips? Life is short. Time is passing. You can’t afford to wait.
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© 2009 Good Karma Housekeeping. Because less really is more.
Related posts:
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Acceptance
The Haves and the Have Nots
Favorite line from Favorite Movie: “Everything you could ever want or need you already have and are.”
I can feel when I get into that place of wanting and thinking I need more. I sometimes look around and think, how did I get all of this because I am not sure I really wanted it. I think it is really easy to be influenced by the world around us and to think you need things. Even my house and furniture. I really just want to live somewhere pretty basic and travel around to show my girls all the ways people live in the world. It is so easy to trap yourself in somebody else’s definition of a complete life if you are not asking yourself who you are everyday. I loved Into the Wild and I really love your blog too!
Courtney, the movie–and the soundtrack–is just full of great lines. I’ve seen Into the Wild twice now–and each time, something new resonates with me.
Robyn, it’s so true! I look around at my mounds of stuff–silly little things–and I just don’t know where it all came from. I suspect the “keeping up with the Jones’” syndrome is part of it. But the ironic part of that is, I wear and use such a tiny percentage of these things. Just because you can afford it–or have it–doesn’t mean you want it.
Thank you so much for reading my blog–and for your kind words! They mean the world to me
Sorry… I was unclear. That line’s from my favorite movie ‘I Heart Huckabees’. I did like Into the Wild, too, though.
Ah, yes–how could I forget Huckabees?