Possessions do not bring us happiness. In fact, often times, they keep us from it.
The simplicity/minimalism movement is a beautiful community. It is friendly, encouraging, and helpful. There is a genuine understanding that any promotion of simplicity is good for society—and there is little concern over who gets the credit for it.
It is a pleasure to be part of such a wonderful group of people. And I enjoy every opportunity to promote writing that encourages people to live more by owning less. So fix yourself a nice warm cup of coffee or tea. Find a quiet moment this weekend. And enjoy some encouraging words to inspire more simplicity in your life today.
Give Me Gratitude or Give Me Debt | Momastery by Glennon Doyle Melton. Sometimes it seems that our entire economy is based on distracting us from our blessings.
Learning to Shun the Instagram Life | The New York Times by Carl Richards. Do we focus on building a real life that makes us happy or do we attempt to live an Instagram life and pretend that it makes us happy?
11 Surprising Things About Becoming a Minimalist | Be More with Less by Courtney Carver. You might expect that when you become a minimalist, you’ll have less stuff and more space, but there are other surprising things you can look forward to as well.
Why I Am Leaving the Best Job I Ever Had | Max Schireson’s Blog by Max Schireson. Life is about choices.
How Your Possessions Are Affecting Your Heart | Storyline by Joshua Becker. Our hearts always follow our greatest investments.
Image: Angelo González
Thank you for all of these.
As the proud owner of an 18-year-old Ford Taurus station wagon, my concern isn’t how much I’ve invested in it, but how little. If it were totaled in an accident, the insurance would never pay enough to get me another car that actually runs. ;-}
Thank you for these great reads every week. Very inspiring.
What a great weekend reading lineup! I read it as soon as I got it in my inbox. Just loved the perspectacles. What a hoot! We’ve been gutting and remodeling for 40 years and went cold turkey. Now we are living with oak cupboards, an electric ring stove, and laminate counter tops. Big shock to anyone who knows our past. My parents watched us obsess over houses for decades. Too bad they died before we changed our insane ways. And as for your dinged up car? I have many scratches on my 15 year old vehicle. All caused by me. Each one has an embarrassing, funny story to go with it. My husband keeps asking me if I want a new car. (I don’t.) I have no ego about how it looks. It’s just a car. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to get me where I’m going!
Thank you so much for sharing this list, Joshua. I’ve just recently discovered your work and am absolutely enthralled with the simple ethic that characterizes both your content and your writing style. My blog has similar goals– I’m trying to figure out what it means to live the good life as a young twenty-something and to offer those alternatives to people like me who are still in the beginning stages of chasing their dreams. Your work is an inspiration! Thanks. :)
simplicityrelished.com
I researched Sam Polk – the bond trader mentioned in Carl Richards’ article – wow – powerful. Here is a link Joshua. My apologies if you’ve mentioned this before:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/for-the-love-of-money.html
I read your article on the Storyline page from the link. I wanted to make another point. You also had the heart deep reaction because someone who was careless and thoughtless damaged something of yours. A vehicle is a necessity in most instances, and needs a level of maintenance that you provide for it. Yes it’s a material thing, but a pretty important one. But your heart had the reaction because someone else’s heart just wasn’t in it. Your reaction was a perfectly normal response when another human does us wrong. Not necessarily the investment in the large material thing. Just another perspective. Thank you. Michelle t
Thanks for the comment Michelle. I do not disagree that part was of it. And I even considered that fact while driving away. I tried to make the distinction in the article, that if the same scratch had been left on something less financially valuable (a skateboard, for example), my reaction would not have been as intense. Ultimately, that was the line of thinking that led me to my conclusion: I cared so much about the vehicle because I had invested so much into it. A hit-and-run scratch on a skateboard would have resulted in feelings far less intense.
Suze Ormon used to live the “abundant” life, she had ‘the job’, lots of debts and ended up losing it all. She now lives a simplistic life and has a small apartment and is living a rich and full life and by that I don’t mean lots of money, designer clothes and possessions. No debts and she is happy. Admittedly she is now a best selling author thanks to people like Oprah Winfrey, but she lives simply and helps others to get rid of their debts and live a better life.