Yesterday afternoon, I threw away a popcorn machine… not one of those household table-top, stir-crazy popcorn makers like my grandpa used every Sunday night growing up. This was one of those commercial popcorn makers like they use at the movie theater. You know, the ones that make the good popcorn perfect for melted butter. The heating element burnt out so we decided to throw it into the dumpster.
Physically, it was an easy process. I put it into the trunk of my car. Drove 1/8 of a mile round back to our company’s dumpster. Opened the gate. Threw it in. And drove away.
Emotionally, it was also an easy decision. Sure, the machine likely cost hundreds of dollars when it was first purchased (and who doesn’t love popcorn)? But there was no long, drawn-out decision process and no second-guessing. I should have been sad to see it break, but I wasn’t. Probably because it had been donated to our company a number of months ago and didn’t cost us anything. And you know what they say, “Easy come, easy go.”
As I drove away from the dumpster, I couldn’t help but think of the decision, the process, and the relative ease of removing this piece of metal and plastic from our lives. This was a possession that I had nothing invested into – absolutely nothing. It was given to us freely. And as a result, it took no effort (other than a few heavy lifts) to immediately remove it from our lives… even though it makes something that tastes so good.
I couldn’t shake the cycle of reflection that had started in my mind and I ended up asking myself two questions about the lives we choose to live…
1) Is one of the reasons we have such a hard time parting with our possessions because we have so much invested into them? We’ve worked hard to get to where we are. We studied hard in school – sometimes for 16+ years. We searched for a career that would pay the bills and buy nice things. Once we found it, we committed 40+ hours/week to our craft – learning our field, taking risks, and becoming good at it. To show for our effort, we buy food and things and cars and houses. We have our entire lives invested into the things we own. So much so, in fact, that removing them almost seems laughable. Why would anyone purposefully live with less after spending so much of their lives getting to a point where they can own so much? The significance of our investment begins to cloud our thinking about what actually adds value to our lives… and what subtracts from it.
2) Am I then investing my life into things that really last? Lasting fulfillment can never be found in things that are temporal by nature. It is foolish to invest the bulk of our finite energy, time, and resources into things that can not bring significant meaning to our lives. The value of faith, love, hope, and relationships will far outlast metal, plastic, and glass. These are things that I long for – these are the things that deserve my resources. May I always pursue them with greater intensity than the items destined to be thrown into a dumpster.
And to think I was only intending to throw away a popcorn-maker…
Please for God sake, I need someone to help my career, can someone borrow me #30,000 to buy popcorn machine, I will be paying back installmentaly for God sake ???
You are so right on-
I started a life as a minimalist a few years ago, after realizing these very things. When we die, our money and material possessions just go to someone else, what kind of life had we lived? The only things that are ours to keep forever are our experiences, what we learned along the way, and the love and emotions we shared with others. Trade your material possessions in for “experience points (my name for money).”
Thank you so much,
Natasha
Thank you for your post. I just found your site this morning and will be following it. My family is at the very beginning of our journey. As in, we decided in the last few days that we are suffocating from the STUFF and want to purge it from our lives. I’m overwhelmed by the volume and can’t imagine: (i) cataloging what we have decided to give away; and (ii) trying to sell it all. It would take months to sell all of this crap and, honestly, we don’t want to have a garage sale. The big items we will try to sell on Craig’s List (refrigerator, furniture, etc.) and I’ve found a resale shop for the kids’ clothes. But the other stuff? All of the CRAP? How do I get rid of it without the actual getting rid of it becoming a full time job? Shouldn’t the decision to get rid of it be the hardest part? I will investigate freecycle. Otherwise, I just want it OUT OF MY HOUSE.
Oh my, I would never have thought a post would produce such a response. I am saddened by many of the negative responses. While, I am all about recycling the “what if” or “rainy day” train of though is often what gets people baried under a sea of stuff. Take a good look someday at what happens to your objects when donated to AMVets or Goodwill. Watch how often they glimps in a box and then decide if they are going to throw it in a trash dumpster or not. I’ve seen it happen several times. Sad but true. They often have to much “stuff”and are forced to make these choices. Freecycle while again lovely idea but items often never get claimed or do and get resold (against the rules by the way).
I believe you made the right the choice for you. And frankly only you know what’s best for your situation. So good for you!
PS – from a safety aspect what if you donated it and later something else went wrong with it and it harmed someone. The thought of that I couldn’t live with.
Add me to the others who are disappointed that you didn’t repair, gift, donate, or recycle. A good commercial popcorn maker is definitely a repairable item. It may have been as simple as a bad connection, thermostat, or fuse. Even if the heating element itself had actually failed, it is almost certainly replaceable in such machines. Hopefully a dumpster diver found it before it went to the landfill.
That said, it’s nice to hear you were able to dispach it so easily without any emotional attachment or other misgivings. That’s the way it should be, but often isn’t, when eliminating excess posessions from our lives.
Oh my. Ever seen hoarders on tv? They agonize over getting rid of anything. It might have value to someone somewhere on earth. How to find that person?
People are valuable. They are eternal. Why must we make moral judgements about trash?
Oh, also to chime in with a great popcorn recipe that doesn’t require a microwave or popcorn maker:
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
2-3 TB of oil (something like canola, which can take a higher heat)
salt
Heat the oil in a frying pan with a lid over medium high heat. Place three kernels of popcorn in the pan with the lid on. Once all the kernels pop, take the pan off of the heat, add the popcorn and replace the lid, and then count to 30 (30 seconds). This evenly heats the kernels.
Replace the pan on the heat at medium high, and the popcorn will pop. When you hear approximately one pop per second, it’s time to take it off the heat, empty it into a bowl, and eat!
Salt, parmesan cheese, butter, and nutritional yeast all are great additions once the popcorn is popped.
Thought-provoking! I feel the same way about homes–I’ve seen so many people of my parents’ generation who buy a house and slave over it, remodeling it, landscaping the yard, etc., only to have to sell the house as it becomes a burden (too much work as they age), and then seeing the new buyers…..you guessed it, remodel it, repaint it, redecorate, landscape…..It seems like a temporal thing, and the hard work that you do isn’t lasting in any sense of the word. I haven’t ever owned a home, and I wonder if I will or not. I know that financially it can be a good move, if you’re savvy. But I also wonder about quantifying the time and resources spent doing all of the above work on the house, and that if we aren’t “money ahead” in the long run by choosing something that doesn’t require all of that input of labor, time, and money.
Of course, I’ve tried expressing those views to my parents, when discussing my own future plans, and they think I’m crazy.
minima/maxima, a blog about minimalist style
conversely, i just bought a popcorn machine. a small air pop one but still it was a process just as difficult. i did not want to clutter my house with that unitasker but my children enjoy popcorn very often and i won’t use the microwave that much. just a quick reheat. not for constant nasty fake buttered popcorn.
“The value of faith, love, hope, and relationships will far outlast metal, plastic, and glass. These are things that I long for – these are the things that deserve my resources. May I always pursue them with greater intensity than the items destined to be thrown into a dumpster.”
Beautifully put.
What no facebook ‘like’ button? Add one and I would like it. I mean I do like it, I find these words well, but I would like it the way of button clicking.
Joshua,
Excellent post, as always. Thank you!
Kevin Clark
Oklahoma City, OK
NanSea, thank you so much for sharing your story. It’s beautiful.
Thanks for the thought-provoking post. As I have been clearing out and shedding possessions, I have encountered many mixed emotions. I look around and think, “What if I had not spent money on this and invested in my retirement fund instead?” I might already be retired instead of working hard to get there. But, then I remind myself, “It is what is is! No shame, no blame. Learn from it and move on.” My college-age son recently posted a picture of some of the “good stuff” he left on the shelves of his bedroom. Soccer trophies, tae kwon do belts, a remote control car, etc. His comment was, “I loved my childhood.” I looked at the items in the photo and realized what they represented. Mostly the memories of good times. Soccer games with kids that were good friends, the belts that represented his discipline and accomplishments in martial arts, the car that zipped around through the neighborhoods we lived in. While there was some financial investment involved in these things, what I think they represented was the investment made into his life and the memories we made. As a single mom, when he was younger, I spent way too many hours wishing I could give him more “stuff.” His comment made me realize that the investment of my time in his life was what his memories are made of, not the investment in just more “stuff,” most of which is now long gone and forgotten. As I move ahead in my journey, I want to remember that I can keep the memories without keeping all the junk. And I want to be more conscious about making my investments in relationships and the things that really matter. Thanks again for the reminder about doing that.
NanSea: This comment made me think a lot. Im 20 and I embraced minimalism 6 months ago. My father and my mother always gave me a lot of things, they just wanted me to be happy. Now that im getting rid of most of things they were surprised, luckily the undestood that I value most experiences than things and they are happy with it.
I think one point you’re missing as to why many people hold a lot of value in objects is that although relationships can be more meaningful, they are in truth, much more work. They can let you down, hurt you, leave you. A porcelain doll or antique table rarely does that. In looking into the psychology of why people choose objects over relationships, it’s easy to see that they are avoiding the pain. Just watch an episode of hoarders to see how the death of a family member or divorce can lead one to becoming a hoarder. Despite my personal belief that relationships are more important than objects, I think it’s daft to assume everyone should hold the same values. It’s reasonable to understand how someone could feel differently, especially when there is so much mental trauma associated.
As a side note, the Craig’s List out here is wonderful! In my experience, just post where the item is at, and there will be a sea of people. People here are vultures for free items!!
lol. Maybe you should amend the original post with a recycling disclaimer so the focus here will stay on the principle of what you were saying, instead of the environmental misstep :) It seems no one can let that one go.
P.S. I agree with Christina. We have a “Free Store” here. You take what you need, leave what you don’t want. I know a homeless person here who would probably try to do something with that popcorn machine. Maybe he would not succeed, but at least the life cycle of the product in use (not in a dumpster or in a trash heap) would be extended for awhile.