“It is preoccupation with possession, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly.” – Bertrand Russell
I really like ice cream. My favorite treat is a warm brownie (thin, slightly under baked) under several scoops of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Mmm, I can taste it now.
But what if I knew that for every bowl of ice cream I enjoyed I would lose 1% of my eyesight? My initial response would be to swear off ice cream completely – my vision is way too important to throw away on a short-lived pleasure.
I suspect after awhile I would wonder if it were really true – does ice cream really cause me to lose vision, or did someone make that up to keep me from getting fat? Eventually, I would try it out. I would eat some ice cream and then look at some words to see if they were blurry. I’m guessing I would see just fine – 1% wouldn’t make that much difference. But just to be safe, I would only have ice cream once a month.
After a year of ice cream that would amount to a 12% loss in vision, I think I would notice a difference. In a blurry street sign I would see some consequences of my indulgence. The eye doctor would change my prescription and I would have to get new glasses. And then I would see clearly again.
In seeing clearly again I wonder if I would be tempted to eat just a little ice cream, since the consequences appear manageable. In fact, eating just a little ice cream would still leave me many years before losing my eyesight completely. Stronger prescriptions, laser eye surgery, and eventually a walking stick or seeing eye dog … I’m adaptable, I think I could still make life work.
Sometimes I wonder if all the little purchases we make throughout life begin to add up against us in ways we don’t fully comprehend. We purchase. We collect. We organize. Soon, we move to a bigger house with bigger closets, a bigger basement, and a bigger garage. And while we believe that we can successfully manage all of our possessions without intrusion into our life, I wonder if we’ve actually sacrificed far more than we realize…
{ 53 comments… read them below or add one }
As an emotional overeater, I take this post very literally. Instead of my eyesight, however, I’m losing years of my life.
I meant no ill-will towards ice cream addicts or the seeing impaired. It is just a metaphor. Thanks for stopping by Brianne.
Oh, no no no! I didn’t take offense to it at all. Was just saying how you meant it metaphorically but it works literally too, that’s all!
I hear what you’re saying Brianne – everything is a trade off. Collecting and buying is fine when you have it under control, but watch it get crazy and all of a sudden you’re on an episode of “hoarders” or something. It’s the same with eating – I know from experience – it’s easy to make the excuse that you’re doing okay but sometimes it creeps up on us in insidious ways, and like you said, takes years off one’s life. It’s good to stop and consider what direction our little actions are taking us in.
Yes, a little mindfulness goes a long way.
That’s quite a headline :) …and a great thought provoking post. I often have this mental picture of an hourglass…all those tiny grains of sand eventually add up.
Is it strange that I am coincidentally eating ice cream as I read this post? :)
Nice metaphor with the hourglass filling up grain by grain. That’s really what it’s like. Perhaps we should pay more attention to the long-term trends of what happens when we hold that hourglass in different angles (trying to find a solution aligned with the metaphor, not sure if it makes complete sense).
:)
You have ruined ice cream for me forever… mostly because I am a diabetic and one complications of diabetes is actually blindness… I’ve just never thought of it this way!
Excellent post…
Completely off topic, but check out http://www.diabetes-warrior.net for a real cure to diabetes! The ADA is trying to get this (formerly diabetic) man arrested for giving out free info on how he cured himself and many others. And no, this isn’t spam, It is merely an offer of help from one aspiring minimalist to another.
Great post, Joshua! I’m just beginning to face up to years of hoarding AND physical neglect of my health- it’s quite a lot to undo, but I’m working towards it step by step. I think few people realise how toxic consumerism and hoarding can become! I’m glad I’ve begun to wake up and smell the coffee!! Thanks for the support!
This is a post that I “see” quite literally too. One thing I do with overeating is reuse dishes – OK, so there is no reason to wash extra but I also feel that it hides when I’m having a meal and then another meal…
But who am I kidding? I’m not hiding anything because everybody, including myself in the mirror, can see what happens as a result.
Every little thing counts…for a bigger house or a bigger body than you really wanted to be living in.
Jess, I’ve done that too. Although I live alone so I have no idea who I’m hiding it from.
Brianne, seriously, I guess it means you are hiding it from yourself! If we had to look at 3 or 4 or 5 dirty bowls, we’d know what really happened, eh?
What about a pledge NOT to reuse the dishes? That might put on the brakes sometimes…
Well also if I wouldn’t use my dishwasher I’d see the dishes but not using the dishwasher is not on my priority list. I WILL however try to be more conscious of reusing dishes and stopping myself.
Also thinking of videotaping myself at each meal to force me to watch what I’m consuming. Or at the very least take pictures of it and keep a photo food log.
Great post, great metaphor.. and the best thing is that you can take this literally as well. Eating ice cream (a lot) DOES have negative consequences that we can only come to see when it’s too late.
*like!*
I immediately thought of how this could be literally true for diabetics, too — and it could be true in similar ways for overeaters.
It’s a very good post. I do think possessions eat away at us — taking our energy, our time and our joy. I’ve written similar things on my blog many times.
Good job. And the post from David Thompson that you based this on is good, too.
Gip
Wow Joshua this is epic and so original how your word play ended up being so impactful.
I switched it up and made it beer because I’m partial to the pints and man what a mind trip!
Thanks for waking me up in the morning like a cup-o-java!
Eric
“my vision is way too important to throw away on a short-lived pleasure.” I am going to remember that when I give in to indulgences that are just that…short lived. This post could be a metaphor for all of the life indulgences that cause us to lose track of our vision. Thanks for the inspiration.
This reminds me of a philosophical thought problem where a person is hooked up to a machine that causes pain. There is a dial from 0 to 100 that is turned by the person hooked up to the machine – at 0 they feel no pain and at 100 they feel excruciating pain for the rest of their life.
Most people think that there is no chance anyone would turn the dial and cause themselves pain; however, the catch is that with each click of the dial to a higher number, the increase in pain is so incrementally small that you feel nothing different than what you were feeling previously and you are rewarded for turning the dial.
Given that, the question is when (if ever) someone would stop turning the dial. They are always rewarded for increasing it and they never feel any consequences.
That’s probably very similar to the realities of over-eating, hoarding, and many other excesses that creep up on us incrementally. If we went from a healthy 120 to 250 overnight for having eaten a single ice cream cone, I doubt most of us would ever indulge. However, you notice no difference from eating a single, individual scoop or buying one more small thing for your house. It’s only looking back in aggregate that we realize that we’ve brought ourselves to a difficult place.
Great way to make us think Joshua! It is the little decisions we make, day-by-day, that add up to our lives. There is a book called Slight Edge that bases the whole book on this philosophy. I have used the analogy of eating Big Macs everyday. If you eat a Big Mac for lunch today, it isn’t going to make a difference in your weight or your health, not that you can see anyway, other than indigestion! So you choose to eat another one tomorrow, and still no change in your weight or health. So you continue on each day, gobbling down that Big Mac, thinking it isn’t hurting anything, but in about 2 weeks or so, your pants are gonna feel a little tight, and you may feel bloated. In 4 weeks you might even have to buy a bigger size of clothes, or at least wear your clothes with the stretchy waist! You may have had to move your belt a notch. After 6 months, your cholesterol may be high, as well as blood pressure and other things.
Then the problem becomes removing that stuff. It did not happen overnight, nor will it be removed overnight, whether we are speaking of body fat, or stuff accumulated!
Analogies are great visuals for helping people to truly see and undertand. Thanks Joshua!
Bernice
http://livingthebalancedlife.com/2010/six-steps-to-a-saner-christmas-part-2/
Great post. I appreciate your use of this metaphor as it relates to accumulating possessions. But one can (and obviously have) extend this metaphor to any personal situation. It’s the incremental costs that blind us to our behavior. If we could see–clearly, that is–into the far future and witness the cumulative impact of our minuscule behaviors, we often might make better decisions. Thanks again!
A different variation on boiling a frog in a beaker metaphor… gradually turning up the heat one degree, the frog doesn’t notice until it’s too late and he slips into unconsciousness and eventually boils to his death. Had you stuck the frog in the boiling hot water to begin with, he’d just jump out.
Becoming a glutton or a hoarder or a overactive consumer is a gradual process. We don’t become 350# overnight, nor do we back up the tractor trailer and fill our homes and lives with stuff. It’s a gradual thing, so we just don’t see it.
The problem is on the inverse, too. When making strides to remove the junk from our lives, to lose the weight, etc. we too often lose sight of the progress we’re making. That’s why it’s important to record and share the journey, to remind us where it began and why and then where it’s going. Journaling, blogging, and sharing the journey with others will help us to maintain the perspective we need to not over acquire, but to minimize. It’s important to evaluate, but it’s also important to not walk the path alone.
Thanks for the post.
You make a great point about the benefits of tracking ones progress. In my journey to simplification it sometimes feels endless, then I think of the many bags and boxes that have left the house.
I was really afraid this was a new study and I was freaking out because I can eat Haagen Daaz for dinner and also I can’t see three feet without my glasses.
But I see the metaphor you were going for after my initial panic has faded, and I think it’s a great point.
Also, I probably shouldn’t eat Haagen Daaz for dinner anyway, huh?
I’ve done that before too Chase! I LOVE Haagan Daaz Swiss Vanilla Almond! I have in times past eaten a whole pint for dinner and dessert! One thing that really put the brakes on that for me was to tally the fat and calorie content for the entire pint. I just can’t do it anymore knowing that the pint has 81 grams of fat, YIKES!
And yes, it will catch up with you!
Bernice
http://livingthebalancedlife.com/2010/you-cant-change-everything/
Having just picked up some Ben and Jerry’s at the store today, I read your post. In many ways I feel that I am just waking up to the chaos around me regarding the amount of stuff that I own. Looking around, it makes me feel stressed, instead of peaceful. The blinders fell off a few months ago and I’ve been taking small strides towards minimalist lifestyle ever since. In fact, I just sat back and enjoyed the empty counters in my kitchen after removing all of the appliances that used to clutter them.
I’ve been blogging about my 75 in 75 challenge (get rid of 75 items in 75 days) since mid-Oct, and when I passed 75 items in just a few weeks, I upped it to 225 items, and then 750 items. I’ve got two weeks left and am over 500 items eliminated in the last two months. I’m totally addicted to simplicity and the freedom it is bringing. I’ll be blogging about decluttering my home in 2011 one baby step at a time.
Thanks for the post. As always, great reading.
Dr. Laura
Wow Joshua,
that was a great post on so many levels. You got more than one message across here and a good thing to judging by the many comments.
For those people with eating problems I say to you the every little thing counts in the other direction too. It is often counter productive to try to go cold turkey when it comes to cutting out the bad things in our diet. Take small steps – cut back on proportions slowly, cut out one small thing at a time, change to low fat alternatives… every little things counts but they can make a big difference. This way you don’t feel deprived and you have a better chance to succeed at changing your bad habits. After all diets don’t work, creating a new lifestyle is what is required.
Maybe this post could have been more minimal if you had just said “Everything in Moderation”? …nah, just kidding. Great concept.
PERFECT! Simple & to the point.
You said, “Sometimes I wonder if all the little purchases we make throughout life begin to add up against us in ways we don’t fully comprehend.” I truly believe it’s all the little stuff that adds up. The little purchases under $20 made up the majority of my clutter before I got rid of it all. The big stuff wasn’t the big deal, the little stuff was. Beautiful post Joshua!
Cheers,
Tanja
Excellent metaphor. I’ve seen this evidenced any time I lift my head out of the sand and tally up our monthly spending. All those little take out meals can add up to over $100 some months, what a waste.
I struggle with wanting to spend money to reassure myself that I have abundance, then realising that by spending I am just perpetuating the problem. All the while wanting to live a simpler life.
It’s a long journey!
http://www.journeymum.com/2010/12/gifts-meaning.html
Love this visual metaphor. It is amazing the impact small, daily habits can have on our lives. Eating, sitting at a computer, accumulating stuff, watching TV, it all adds up – our health, our bodies, our cluttered lives, our time. Your metaphor makes me think about how important it is to be conscious of our small choices and of how precious our space, our time, our health, and our lives are. Thanks Joshua.
To answer that in 1 word: Yes.
I think the metaphor goes a bit too far for being minimalistic. I feel the author’s inner tension instead of a calm, peaceful and minimalistic state of mind allowing him to gain clarity and moderation in his daily habit and small decisions. Anything more seems like an excess.
We all know the truth of your post, Joshua, but it’s often so easy to forget and to mindlessly accumulate stuff, eat, watch TV, surf the Web, text, etc. Your metaphor makes the truth unforgettable. For that, I thank you. Your post just might change my life.
Okay, this post freaked me out in the best way possible. I think I’ll start applying this principle to everything I buy (even though I don’t buy that much besides books to begin with). Really great post, Joshua.
Glad I got started reading. Will be back for more :-)
I feel like I need to reply again, not in my typical snark but in the spirit of discussion.
Is is possible that minimalism can be taken too far? I’m thinking of those of us that go to such lengths that they have pared their material possessions down to 100 things, 50 things, whatever, and live in tiny apartments, do not drive a car or even ride a bike, eat minimally, bathe minimally, communicate minimally…etc,etc,etc.
Is it possible that minimalism, the state of being…can overcome the individual entirely and effectively obliterate them in all ways save for their actual existence (plus maybe their respiration and their S.S. number?) Sometimes I feel like we are about to reach some sort of minimalism “critical mass” beyond which one more word uttered or published about how to perfect our minimalist existence will completely negate the collective movement in a virtual storm of over-published ideas.
…or I may have run out of coffee. that too.
Agreed.
The little stuff adds up! Coupled with denial abd this is how I havegained my weight over the years. Why don’t or cant I just do the things I should?
Michelle,
Precisely for the reason that Joshua states. We don’t see the negative impact immediately. If you knew that eating 4 pieces of pizza today for lunch would cause you to actually gain 40 pounds by the end of the day, would you eat them? Probably not, especially if you knew it to be true and had seen it happen to someone else. We just have to learn to understand the cumulative effects and that we make our decisions upon that.
Fortunately, as far as clutter goes, it is easier to see the effects of decluttering faster than dieting!
Bernice
I love metaphors. But, you don’t even need one for this. A real life situation exists that points out the pitfalls of lack of self control even better. Crack cocaine stimulates the brains pleasure circuits to the state that it actually burns them out. So, each pleasurable experience leaves you with LESS neurons to actually FEEL pleasure. Now, is that a little slice of hell, or what? And yet it’s use still exists in epidemic proportions in areas of deep human existential unhappiness.
In my youth (when vast flocks of pterodactyls darkened the skies on their yearly migrations) they used to tell young boys that masturbation would make you blind. The standard answer was, “Well, I will just do it till I need glasses.”
My question is, Isn’t ALL this metaphorical for what it is to be human? Beyond that, when we give up one habit, don’t we just acquire another to take its place? Is that (or can that be) minimalism?
If we understand that “security” does not exist… minimalism in possessions becomes natural. They are no longer necessary to provide a person with illusions of security. The other side of that coin is the question, “What would happen if EVERYBODY lived like this… and, of course, how could some of us be happy without the enjoyment of collecting, simply for the joy of collecting?
Respectfully
Mrs. N
Well, said, Mrs. N. The ice-cream metaphor reminds me of exactly our effort to pursue our minimalistic living without proper moderation. We are turning minimalism (an everyday humbling experience) into just another addiction which is just less harmless than the others. We are replacing our unwanted addictions with a newer obsession labeled as “minimalistic living’.
We are human and we can be happy collecting stuff and decluttering, as long as we live with moderation and are mindful of keeping things simple, but not making life simpler than it is necessary (by over-emphasizing the minimalism to an overwhelming proportion).
Thank you Damond.
I have to wonder at the demographics of this movement. I spent some time today jumping from minimalist site to site. It left me wondering if the motivational force here was just some kind of escape. Escape from economic pressure, competition, responsibility, failure…? All these sites trying to sell me “The Way” to happiness that, to me, looked more like the life of an adolescent gypsy. A butterfly.
Being a teenager in the 60′s this is nothing new. Other than perhaps, now, people are trying to get me to buy their internet scheme to make cash and be… FREE!
I live a minimalist life, but, I have a profession, successful kids and wonderful grandchildren ( not to mention a wife of 42 years).
I guess what I am saying is that minimalism isn’t about “stuff”. It’s more about the big idea that the moment you are dead NOTHING matters. We are here to fart around and have a great time without hurting ourselves or anybody else. Find what you love and do that. Just understand that you can’t own anything without it owning you in return. Make the right decisions, but, for Pete’s sake don’t get the idea that happiness depends on running away from stuff or responsibility. Sometimes it can only be found by digging in.
Respectfully disagree a bit here, Mrs. Neutron. For me, at least, it’s not an escape from economic pressure, responsibility, failure, any of that. It’s about realizing that the consumer lifestyle that we’ve been living isn’t sustainable. It’s about setting an example for those around us and future generations in the hopes that some of it will eventually sink in. It doesn’t mean packing up 50 things in a backpack and being a nomad wandering from town to town. If you think this site is in any way pushing that, then maybe you haven’t seen some of the more polar minimalist sites?
One of the reason I like Joshua’s site so much is because it allows us to be humans living in 2010 and still focus on people and experiences more than the newest and best and next thing that everyone just has to have. I don’t see how you got “happiness depends on running away from stuff or responsibility” from this post because I don’t see that at all. I think this blog is one of the few minimalism blogs that actually does tout moderation instead of excess (of minimalism, of course.)
Hi Brianne,
I think you missed what I was trying to say. My remarks were not directed totally at this site or article, but at what I read at the “more polar minimalist sites” as you called them. I think I am just coming at this movement from a different place than you and many of the other younger people here. Try to understand that this is all VERY old hat to many of us.
Understanding, as you say that “It’s about realizing that the consumer lifestyle that we’ve been living isn’t sustainable” is something that was obvious to some of us out here long before you were born. Naturally, I’m going to have a different perspective. Not along the lines of “I disagree”, but, more along the lines of “it’s about time”.
I didn’t get that, “happiness depends on running away from stuff or responsibility” from this article or site. I did get it from many others. It prompted me to ask questions regarding the motivations of minimalism.
I tend to agree with Laura below. But, I even have questions about her comment: “I admire that they are rethinking and redefining success and happiness on their own terms, not by what society says it should be.”
Do they have a choice? Is this insightful, or merely a natural reaction to the bankruptcy and utter failure of consumer culture? Is this some kind of epiphany, or just a reaction to getting bashed in the head with the obvious?
I think we have to remember what culture is. Humans are the animals that “create” reality. Culture is the lies and bullshit that members of a culture agree to pretend isn’t lies and bullshit. We pretend it’s true and teach our children to pretend too. “Counter culture” (or, another culture) simply is saying… “that’s lies and bullshit.”
I would disagree with Laura when she says: “these young folks are challenging their peers definition of happiness, not escaping by any means”. I would say, “Of course they are!” They are escaping a “failing” culture that can no longer promote its lies and bullshit as truth with the ease it once did. What could be more natural?
Using Laura’s words… The “lucid cry to stop the insanity and let’s all rethink what success and happiness really means to you” is an ancient one. Perhaps one of the most ancient ones of all.
Discussing it is good. Pretending it was just invented is ridiculous.
That was my point.
I think the minimalist movement appeals to many demographics.
I’ve probably got 10 to 20 years on the minimalist bloggers I read most. I admire that they are rethinking and redefining success and happiness on their own terms, not by what society says it should be.
I came of age in the early 80s, a time of extreme excess. McMansions were beginning to pop up all over here in southern California. Huge homes with tiny yards owned by double-income families filled to the brim with the latest toys – electronic, vehicular, etc.
I think today’s minimalists are having a gut reaction to the excess they were probably born into…either by birth or society. I applaud their lucid cry to stop the insanity and let’s all rethink what success and happiness really means to you.
In a culture that seems to think that the latest phone, computer, designer handbag or shoes is what makes you happy, these young folks are challenging their peers definition of happiness, not escaping by any means.
You are so right, what you own does own you and that is the message I get from these minimalists today. Their counter-culture message has gotten to me and I appreciate it!! :)
Mrs. N,
If EVERYBODY lived like this there would be even more people out of work! Thought provoking post, BTW.
This is a great illustration of how we develop addictions to anything. The changes are so subtle at first, and then we look back and notice how drastically we’ve let ourselves go. That is why it is important to be more mindful of the long-term consequences of our actions. I like this post a lot!
Such good food for thought!! :)
It’s like that boiling a frog story….it happens so, so slowly that we don’t see it actually happening.
I’ve noticed that I’ll see the clutter more when I expect company. It’s not that it got worse, but I am seeing it through “their ” eyes and all of a sudden it got 10 hundred times worse!!
Excellent, excellent post!
Laura,
Great post. Why is it we always clean up for other people? And we apologize if they show up unexpectedly and our home is messy! Are we to keep our abode always “company ready” or do we actually LIVE there?
Very nice post. Something to think about for me today. Thank you!
I LOVE ice cream & have often said if I had to survive on only one food for the rest of my life it would be ice cream. My eyesight is not that great. What to do????
I was expecting this to be related to that parents of diabetics group again lol
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