The other day, while brewing coffee in the morning, a lightbulb went out in my kitchen. Not an uncommon occurrence I suppose.
But for some reason, on this particular morning, the common event bothered me more than usual. (Maybe because my coffee hadn’t finished brewing… if you know what I mean).
I remember looking up at the now-darkened lightbulb and thinking to myself in a frustrated tone, “Why can’t everything just work for once? Can I ever escape constantly needing to maintain and fix the stuff I own?”
I caught myself mid-paragraph.
Because the obvious answer is “No.” And I know that.
I mean, I’m in my mid-40’s. A handsome and youthful-looking mid-40s, sure. But I still know how life works:
All the things we own, regardless of the number, perish, spoil, or fade. Everything physical needs to be maintained to some extent.
Clothes need to be washed. Carpets need to be vacuumed. Beds need to be made. Oil needs to be changed. Shelves need to be dusted. Batteries need to be replaced. Showers need to be scrubbed.
And lightbulbs need to be changed.
That is the reality of the physical possessions we own. Nothing lasts forever. Everything needs to be maintained.
Every little thing.
This is why I chose minimalism as a lifestyle in the first place. Rather than being frustrated at a lightbulb that needs to be changed, I should find some joy in the fact that I need to change less of them than ever before.
When I speak about minimalism, I often make a joke about lightbulbs, in fact. I talk about my past desire to own a larger home (despite the fact that we didn’t even use all the rooms in our existing house).
But as I began minimizing possessions, I noticed the emptiness of always wanting a bigger house—and I began seeing big houses differently.
As I like to say, “Now I drive by neighborhoods with big houses and think to myself, ‘Who changes the lightbulbs in that thing?’”
Being freed from the unquenchable desire for more, bigger, and better is a wonderful feeling. As is, being separated from constantly comparing my things to others.
All possessions require maintenance. Every lightbulb, plate, shirt, bed, fire alarm, and electronic device require our attention and maintenance.
Do we ever escape that reality? Nope.
Lightbulbs always burn out—sometimes early in the morning.
But the fewer possessions we own, the less we need to maintain. And the more we can focus our attention on the things that matter most.
Great stuffs thank you very much for lighting it up. We need to always save so that our energy doesn’t become drained and unused or inefficient . There are so many ways to prepare for when the lights will be iff . Just the thought of it can be scary. The Ian hurricane that hit the South has dramatically alarmed people not being able to reach out or connect for three or the weekdays. Love reading your weekly posts everyday .
Nice post . I needed this today , with Fall coming back early and shopping for supplies makes me wonder. Who would need pens, pencils, notebooks… books to read , really , I just feel happy we can get out of the house for fresh air , even if it is not as far as we wish we could travel. Changing our habits and learn a new way of living is what’s we need to do to adapt .
Joshua, your post today is a great reminder about what we have and what we think we want. For fun I look at fancy real estate listings, houses that cost more than I could ever afford. But after taking your course I finally realized that no matter how big your house is, it’s still a bedroom, a kitchen, and a living room. You still sleep in a bad, sit on a chair, eat at a table. So I am happy with my two room home. I don’t need more. But sometimes I do like to look at what others have. And I say to myself who replaces the toilet paper in those huge houses? Just as you say who changes all those lightbulbs!
Thank you for the post.
I can’t believe people are actually commenting about how you should get LED light bulbs. He is clearly using the light bulb as an example and a metaphor. No matter how insignificant the item, all things will need maintenance. The less things you have, the less energy you have to invest in caring for it. Invest in the things that give your life meaning and value. The minutia of stuff can suck the life out of you.
Lol. I know. People here take things way too literally.
I don’t think this is the only answer to sustainability. I am using candles and you can find some cheap one after the holidays or home made with bee wax. They are quite handy at times and need little care. LED are not cheap.
For me, candles put too much soot in the air & require more maintenance & cleaning & replacement than a lamp. But I’m glad you find them useful
Kristi , my lamps and the lightbulbs are insufficient in my house. Well, candles can’t be everything for its purpose , and still electricity bill can be a surprise if you want a well-light house. imho
I know that it’s not really the point of the article, but the metaphor here is so dated it’s kind of hard to get past. Buy some LEDs. Problem solved. Lightbulbs no longer need changing.
Thanks for the comment. My bulbs are LED. Still need changing.
idk what you mean by this. you can’t use anything just once, can you?
How many writers does it take to change a light bulb?
Just 1.
can’t believe people have time to read all this crap. who cares about all these people anyway? live your own life
and yet, here you are….
LOL !!!!????
I replaced all my light bulbs with low energy bulbs in the mid-90s. Since then I have had to replace exactly one.
Moaning that they don’t fit your sockets is pathetic, change the sockets!
Or does burning 90% less electricity to light your home not come under “the things that matter the most”
Robert Keay,
I fail to see any mention of sockets not fitting in Joshuas article, can you please explain.
“I’m in my mid-40’s” and you’re a writer!
Come on, be better.
Another draw back of extremes of (income/wealth) inequality is that those with more tend to look for ways to spend it and that leads to garnering more ‘stuff’, or a refurbishment to freshen it up, or something bigger. After all, surely you’ve earned it?
It’s in everyone’s interest to even things up more.
Such good timing, I am in Ireland, in lockdown due to Covid19, so the 3 young kids are on home learning, and I am trying to juggle that and work. I found myself yesterday complaining about how many times I had to wipe down the counter top, ‘it never stays clean’…………….this article has made me realise it’s ridiculous to expect my kitchen counter to stay clean when there are 4 of us at home pretty much all day every day during this lockdown. We’ve made an effort to keep tidying off the kitchen table each day after dinner so the only things that remain on the unused end are their school folders and some pencils ready for the next day. It has helped keep at least our work surface clear and ready for the next session. Unfortunately, with so much else to do with work and school, my kitchen counter remains a mess mostly!! I’ll try to live and accept that for now!!
In our house, whenever something needs repairs, we remind ourselves the only way to avoid repair bills is to own nothing. Sometimes this is a difficult to swallow and appreciate.
Words of wisdom, thanks!
Clutter does suck up energy, just in its maintenance! I do, however, have a surprisingly large amount of lightbulbs in my small apartment, and we can’t find LED’s for all of our light fixtures. So I get it! I get excited when all of our lights are actually working though!
Lightbulbs fail because they are DESIGNED TO FAIL
Back in the 1930s a lot of time and effort was put into ensuring lightbulbs lasted 1000 hours in service – lamps which lasted longer would not be approved for sale (Yes, really) by the cartels which held the patents for electric lighting.
It was known as the Phoebus cartel
This is quite well documented and part of the reason was that companies which produced lamps which lasted 5-10,000 hours sold well in the first 3 years then went out of business due to not selling any more light bulbs
Before Phoebus, most lamp lifetimes were around 2500 hours
Dear minimalists,
I had a broken light bulb recently — no big issue, just switched on another lamp. I think this is the first time I realise that the pursuit of having less can have its downsides. I must confess I really like nice indirect lighting in many corners of the room — feels more homely to me than a single bright light. Also more flexible, only sometimes all of my lamps are on. I think energy-wise it’s about the same, apart for energy spent on producing, packaging, shipping and such for the additional bulbs (the lamps are hand-me-downs). I’ve however feel that the more maintenance stuff receives, the more I get attached to it. Could that be?
I think it depends on the person. If something I own starts to require to much maintenance… it goes.
*too
Great article Joshua. My question is, did you have spare bulbs on hand or did you have to go to the store?
I totally get the the coffee thing! Time to clean up and clear out! Too much junk in my tiny home. You have encouraged me to do a deep cleaning and decluttering. And as I do so, I am going to rejoice that my house is small. I thank God for this maintainable home. Thank you Joshua!!!
I love this! What a great, fresh perspective. Thanks for your encouraging and supportive writings.
You ask who changes all the lightbulbs in that house. I always think “who cleans all thise bathrooms?”
That’s my thought too! Bigger house = more cleaning = Ugh!
I’m with you there. The futility of cleaning a big house strikes me everytime!
Such great timing for this article. My husband is 87, I am 66, we have been married 38 year. He has always been such a huge help to me in keeping the house up. Washing clothes, going to the grocery store, working all around the house etc. He has been diagnosed with dementia and is unable to help me any longer. I have felt so over whelmed lately, Did I mention his 62 year old daughter lives with us due to a stroke 2 1/2 years ago which left her unable to completely care for herself. Well the smoke detectors have started going off in the middle of the night. UGG!! I am so overwhelmed with taking care of everything in this over stuffed house. I need to start decluttering more than I have been since I retired. This article hit me like a ton of bricks. I need way less, so as not to be stressed all the time. Thank you for a great article that hit close to home.
I have lots of strings of lights. I really enjoy them when they have fresh batteries in…..so pretty! I hate it when the batteries need replacing though – so time-consuming and expensive! I have already vowed to start discarding, from now, as each set of batteries wears out.