Skip to main content

Stuffocation - 6 ways Experiences beat Stuff

Image
By
Having everything we thought we wanted isn't making us happier. It's bad for the planet. It's cluttering up our homes. It's making us feel 'stuffocated' and stressed - and it might even be killing us.
Reading that on the back cover of Stuffocation: Living More with Less immediately grabbed me. But this is not just about stating the problem. The back cover continues...
With intriguing insights on psychology, economics and culture, Stuffocation is a vital manifesto for change. It has inspired those who have read it to be happier and healthier, and to live more, with less
The book is in basically four parts. Part one outlines stuffocation and its harmful effects on our health and happiness. Part two looks at how we got 'stuffocated' - the start of the 20th century materialistic culture.

In part three we get into the here-and-now. The author looks at 3 different alternatives to materialism and stuffocation - with real examples.

Minimalism

In a way this is the direct opposite of materialism. Deliberately reducing the number of objects you own. You may have heard of things like the "33 item wardrobe" or the "100 thing life".

Simple Living

An example of this is living in a simple house in the country, being more self-sufficient and separate from the consumer world that continually asks us to work and buy, and work and buy, and work...

The Medium Chill

An alternative to the 60 hours-a-week, corporate ladder lifestyle. The medium chill is being happy to work 3 or 4 days a week. Maybe turning down a promotion if it means more stress and longer hours. It's about being willing to ignore the society pressure about getting the biggest fastest newest shiniest things and taking more time for the things you enjoy.

You may have guessed that I quite like the sound of the medium chill. But the author writes that none of these have the potential to be a significant new 'trend'. While he sees value in each of them, he thinks that each has its drawback in terms of becoming a widespread movement - the way materialism did in the 20th century.

He reckons most people would find minimalism negative (essentially anti-materialism), simple living too regressive (it's not everyone's cup of tea to grow crops or chop firewood for heat), and the medium chill as being like normal life but in slow motion.

The author's answer

His answer (part 4) is experientialism. Valuing the experience of doing something rather than owning something.

He finds that facebook is already starting to spread this new trend. Think of the photos your friends share. Do you see many newly-bought items? Or do you see photos of your friends at the beach? Out at a restaurant? Seeing the sunrise? Going on a hike? Seeing their kids start school?

Experiences have proven advantages over material objects.
1. We often remember them as better than they really were.
2. Even the most exciting gadget is soon boring and part of everyday life.
3. Experiences are harder to compare than physical possessions, so there's less envy.
4. We view experiences as contributing to who we are.
5. They bring us closer to other people.

The author would add a sixth advantage - they don't clutter up our house.

Stuffocation: Living More with Less also contains some resources, starting with the quiz Have you had enough of stuff? and finishing with 3 steps to becoming an experientialist and the 7 habits of highly effective experientialists.

I see his point, but still think medium chill sounds pretty good.
Read more about:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monopoly, money and you

By
One of the most well-known board games can also be a great way to learn about money and investing - according to this book. Perhaps one way to teach kids (and maybe ourselves) about finance is to play a board game. In so many ways, the game parallels our own financial life - and we can practice financial decision-making without losing any real money. Is monopoly like life? Yes and no. We manage our cash, negotiate, make deals, make choices, go through tough times, make investments, pay tax and reap rewards. To do well we have to make investments. It's very hard to win just by collecting $200 each time you pass go. There are rules, and wise moves. The better we know them, the better we do. However, in real life, you can win without forcing others into bankruptcy. Principles that work in the game and life Diversify. You might have hotels on the two most expensive properties on the board, but if no-one lands on them, you still might lose. Investments have a price and a value. They are...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 'keys' to happiness

By
At the moment my wife is practising a song. She'll be performing it on piano at the upcoming wedding of a friend. She wants to do lots of practice so it can be just great for the day. But we don't own a piano. At this point the material world says "Well, go out and buy one". But these days there are many more options. After a couple of practices on a friend's piano we put out the call on Streetbank - a community site for people to share things with their neighbours. Within a day we had a couple of offers of a keyboard to borrow. It's a great solution as it was free for us, and made use of keyboards that were just sitting around unused. One was so unused that the owner said he would test if it still worked before he lent it to us. I'm told that Aristotle once said that joy was in use not in ownership. I think this is a good example of that philosophy in action. Although sometimes I question if it's "joy" to hear the same song pract...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are cooktops a waste of space?

By
Who has ever had four saucepans cooking at once? So why do we have four hotplates on cooktops? Back in the day of all-in-one units, four hotplates were a nice fit on the top of the oven. These days the cooktop and ovens are usually separate but we've stuck with four hotplates. In many homes and apartments it's worth re-thinking. Is this is a wise use of bench space? Two-saucepan cooktops are making an appearance and freeing up some bench space in smaller kitchens. Aldi are taking it a step further with the Induction Cooking Plate . It's a stand-alone single-hotplate device that can be packed away when not in use. Aldi says it has 8 temperature settings, 5 preset cooking functions, a timer, touch controls and overheat protection. Could this be the future of smaller kitchens? Cost-savings in building. More bench space. Less energy consumption with the efficiency of induction cooking. Another great example of less is more. I don't mean this to be an ad, but...
2 comments
Read more