Monday, January 2, 2017

New Year, New Stuff?



Lately I have been thinking a lot about materialism. I feel like we live in a modern society where "stuff" is valued beyond anything. I feel the pressure to keep up with other influencers that have the newest palettes or tools or enough clothing to do a new outfit everyday or whatever. I also feel the same pressure to just keep up in life with the stuff that everyone else has. The newest phone, the newest car, the biggest collection of vintage furniture/clothing/jewelry/etc.

I really sat down and thought hard about it the other day and I realized that even though I like stuff, and certain stuff is important to me, it is not stuff that makes me happy. Of course there are things that are basic human needs (food, water and shelter), and those things make me happy because they keep me alive and healthy. But I really think that we put too much emphasis and pressure on ourselves to collect things that really have no bearing on our true happiness.

This is my first blog of the year and I am going to challenge myself this year to work on figuring out what makes me truly happy, versus what I think makes me happy. Do I feel that moment of elation when I open a new box of shoes? Sure. But it is the same temporary brain spike that I get when I eat chocolate. It is temporary and it isn't real. It is like smiling without your eyes. It is surface happiness.

I am not saying that I am going to put all of my earthly belongings on craigslist tomorrow. I like my comforts and my things. I am just making a commitment to myself to put less pressure on myself to keep up with those around me and to flaunt what I have. I want a simpler life and I think this is a good first step.

Happy New Year babes.

16 comments:

  1. I have been downsizing a lot lately. I have my weird collections (like converse), but do i really need 50 shades of nail polish, 20 hoodies i don't wear, and boxes and boxes of "stuff" that i haven't taken out of the box in 5 years but have some weird attachment to (ie. the shower curtain i have INCASE i move and need one).

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  2. Most of the time I just like to coo over things rather than desire to possess them. Watching things on Ebay or pinning on Pinterest helps till I find something I covet more ��X

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  3. I think this is a very good "resolution" if you will. One thing I pride myself on is not possessing too many things. As Fight Club so aptly has taught us, the things we own, end up owning us. LOL Although, I do need to work on my health and quitting smoking so we all have our foibles of course but recognizing it is the 1st step in achieving our goals. :)

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  4. It's so funny you wrote this post... I have been feeling the need to purge. I did it several years ago after my divorce, and it felt amazing. Lately, the "stuff" is starting to feel like it's weighing me down and the urge to rid myself of at least some of it is very strong. :-)

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  5. I personally think it's the society pressure that we live in that advertise us to buy materialism thinking it make us happy. Sure there are things that we cherish on and make us happy but we need to balance things that we want (ie: shoes, makeup, car, etc...) and things that make us happy (ie: family, friends, food, shelter, etc..).
    xo
    Michelle| www.brokebutflawless.blogspot.com

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  6. A huge resounding "YES" to this! My boyfriend and I had to move out of our house around this time last year (landlord decided to sell after many years) and we ending up downsizing like crazy because we had to move into a little 1 bed cracker box apartment given our short time limit. Here we are about a year later, post holiday chaos, and we find ourselves looking around thinking, "where did all of this STUFF come from?!" OY... Glad I am not the only person feeling this way! I love my things and stuff that makes me happy, but there is beauty in the essence of minimalism.

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  7. I have been feeling the need to purge and have been getting rid of a lot of stuff. I'm not only doing this for me but for my kids. They get too much stuff from relatives that they don't need or want so we have been doing a give, toss, keep piles. This isn't working so well with the hubby but it is starting to wear him down. He started doing this with his stuff this last weekend! It's a good thing to give stuff that is usable but that you aren't using to someone that will or can.

    Love and peace to all.

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  8. I have been feeling the need to purge and have been getting rid of a lot of stuff. I'm not only doing this for me but for my kids. They get too much stuff from relatives that they don't need or want so we have been doing a give, toss, keep piles. This isn't working so well with the hubby but it is starting to wear him down. He started doing this with his stuff this last weekend! It's a good thing to give stuff that is usable but that you aren't using to someone that will or can.

    Love and peace to all.

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  9. My big focus has been on which relationships make me happy. That being said, I have done some light purging of stuff lately. My thing is if I have not looked at it in a year it can go.

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