Inertia seems to be everything

[flexagon]

Once I actually work on my side project, I want to work on it again soon. A countertop that has clutter on it will accumulate more clutter. Some say that money attracts more money; it's obvious that getting one cat is a gateway to getting more cats. It's a bad idea to think about this too much -- I could start thinking that EVERYTHING is addictive.

If you feel like reading a link, check out The unmistakable freedom of contentment. I find it pretty interesting to think of developing contentment as a practice or goal in itself. I've always viewed it as an emergent property that happens when things align just right. I wonder why I'm fine with the idea of working on happiness, or gratitude, but surprised at the idea of working on contentment. Something subtle is going on there.

Comments

[kaigex.livejournal.com]

But everything is a little addictive. Just knowing something exists privileges it in your thoughts versus all the things you've never heard of. Having it in your home means you see it and are reminded of it. Making general use of it means it's existence is reflected in your actions; recurrent use and it it's reflected in your habits and incorporated in memories.

While I can fully get behind principles 1-5, sometimes I worry that #6 is a contradiction. If somebody is content and does not want, then what is the drive to acquire? Sure, it's great to not want oodles of stuff. But I wonder if wanting new knowledge, skills, or attainments relies on similar circuitry. Wanting to be able to do X can cause stress just the same as wanting to buy X, no? What is the fundamental difference? Certainly one can suffer from an overextended grasp for knowledge.

Which isn't to say I'm against contentment. I think a lot of my interest in chaos throws me into a Zen-esque categorization anyways, which generally correlates with contentment being a privileged state.

[flexagon]

Wanting to be able to do X can cause stress just the same as wanting to buy X, no? What is the fundamental difference? Certainly one can suffer from an overextended grasp for knowledge.

I get your point and it's a good one, but there are some differences I can think of:
* Wanting to be or do something inspires continued focused effort, rather than a purchase. Continuing focused effort is likely to be more leading to happy life during that time (states of flow and all that kind of thing).
* Closet space. Seriously.

[flexagon]

If you'll indulge a little ranting, I am actually NOT fully behind principles 1-5, because I disagree with principle #3. That's the one about not satisfying dissatisfaction with acquisitions.

are you dissatisfied with your wardrobe? go buy new clothes. not content with your vehicle? go buy a new one. Well YEAH. Definitely DO those things. This is on a minimalist blog, so the audience is people who don't have a large number of possessions -- those few possessions may as well be high-quality and bring pleasure. By all means, if something isn't good enough, trade up to something that is. Give the old one to someone who needs it. (If something is good enough, then yes, be smart and realize it's still good enough even if the next version is on the market.)

I don't think a person can buy their way out of unhappiness, but there is no reason to limp through life using crappy low-quality things that break all the time, or don't work, or make you feel shabby. There IS a world of difference between really good shoes and crappy shoes, and between (for knitters) good-quality, well-spun natural-fiber yarn and cheap acrylic crap. A nice new well-fitted bike vs an old rusty one. Again, I feel this goes double for self-proclaimed minimalists who don't plan on having many objects.

(sings) You know that we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl.

[kaigex.livejournal.com]

I read it not a call to the cheapest-version-of-something, but a ward against continued falling into the materialist cycle. Even the minimalist can get into a trap of, say, thinking that the problem with their photography is their camera, so they buy a nicer one. But, that doesn't cut it, so they buy a nicer one. And again. And again. It means the person still suffers continuous product lust, isn't satiated, and buys again. This seems to contradict the spirit of minimalism.

However, as you phrased it, that when you *do* buy something, buy quality, I totally agree with.