O+C:Materislism

The Beats, which I discussed in a previous post, traveled quite frequently. When they did, they didn't bring much with them, probably because they didn't have much.  They didnt bring much money, because they didn't really have money to spare(except for maybe the ocassional unexpected publishing check being sent). They often only relied upon a letter being sent maybe a month before departure saying they were coming , in hopes of having a place to stay. It always amazed me how they would get by on soup everyday, along with the charity of others. All this while they could quite possibly be VERY sick. They didn't even seem to be phased by things such as dysintary, ghonorea, intense bug bites, rats, and cockroaches. They were so focused on seeing as much as they possibly could in the time they had. They would also be left with only 2 dollars in their pockets. 

I cant imagine most people traveling like this today, let alone living like this. Why would you if you had the choice to live otherwise?? I've come to believe that there is much to be gained from their lifestyle. I've been doing a lot of thinking about materialism lately and heres what I've come up with:

First of all, some quotes that inspired my thinking..

That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.-Thoreau

You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you.- Chuck Palahniuk

I feel that this is where society is today, and it's gradually getting worse. We go about our lives accumulating stuff (such as the sofa, drapes, bed, and dishes in the quote). We don't need a lot of the things we buy. But if we buy cheap things, society may(probably) look down upon us? In a society where fast food, and television dominate(amongst other things), WE LOVE INSTANT GRATIFICATION. People love having their food ready-to-order within 5 minutes. We love being able to sit down, push a button, and be mindlessly entertained. It's the same with things that we buy and/or things we think we need. Once we buy something will that really make us happy? Probably. But for how long? Chances are it wont last for very long and we will just end up wanting more, more, more. Something better, improved. 

[Just to get this straight, I'm not pointing fingers. I'm talking about (particularly Western) society as a whole. I'm guilty of all these things just as much as the next person. Im just trying to provoke some thought and self-reflection for anyone who reads this. It is-at the very least-something to think about. ]

I do recognize that it may be hard-especially at this stage of our lives, still being in school- to not be concerned about money and other things that might label you as materialistic. These things are important-to some degree. Plus there are definitely instances where we are required to buy things that we personally may not need but that we are required to purchase by someone "above" us.  I understand.

Why am I even thinking about this? Why would I ever want to do this, and how would I go about letting go? 

Spiritually I think one can grow a lot from living this way. If you don't have as many things to tie you down and occupy you, you can be truly happy. Not only that but I can only imagine that you would be a more independent, self-sufficient person. You would know more about yourself-as just yourself, pure. You would definitely look at the World around you in a completely different way, and become more connected with the things around you. You would experience things differently, and not take anything for granted. You would come to realize the true goodness of people. Through all of this, you would become more knowledgeable. In order to "let go and be free" I think that you would need to cold-turkey it. Start all over with a new beginning. Im envisioning a GIANT garage sale? take the money and travel. on the bare minimums. don't worry, things will work out. I'd like to think that theres a chance things could still work like this today as opossed to when the Beats did it 50 years ago. I'm a pretty optamistic person-it could also be considered ignorance, but when you throw yourselves out there in the world as I'm proposing, as long as you accept that it may not work out-I wouldn't consider it ignorance. Anyway.. 

Lets shift from a materialistic society to one who measure wealth in terms of knowledge and experiences. =)

Im working on this myself..I think once I become more self reliant it will get easier.