All that we own...

Well, here it all is... this is all that we have left. There are a few things that will go in my car, like clothes, my guitar, my stand mixer, the laptops, and other random things.

It is hard to believe that our 3 bedroom, two living room's, 3 baths, kitchen, and closets full of our life, now fit into this large square (many boxes!) in the back of our truck (as seen above).  It is something that most people wouldn't do in life, just start over with everything that they own.  Unless it was by no choice of their own (flood, fire, etc.)... most people become attached to their personal belongings in a way that i am starting to understand as almost unnatural. We place so much feeling of want and desire on the things that we purchase in our life.  It is not until we are left with almost nothing that we learn what is more important in our life.  You can not buy your friends (even if you try), you can not buy your happiness (even if you want to), you can not find true love or fullfill any desire by purchasing any item on the planet. We tend to buy our children every toy they want and more and then we wonder why we are broke at the end of the month.  We are turning our children into consumeristic nations by giving them so much junk at their finger tips to play with!  If they become bored with toy A-Z we can shove toy 1-100 in front of them to keep them occupied while we are busy ignoring them by being online or watching sports or just doing any number of other things in our overly busy lives.  hundreds of years ago most kids had 1 toy and they loved it, they kept it and passed it down to their children and grandchildren.  What is the last thing you bought your child that could be handed down to the next generation?  Video's, games, toys, etc are all a passing fad and by the time you have a grandchild they will all be out of date. (sorry i'm rambling here!)

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there was a blog post that i saved long ago, written by unknown at this point, but i felt it worth a share here:

This culture confuses excitement and fulfillment. Fulfillment can't be mass produced and sold in 30 second increments. It's not quantifiable. Excitement is much easier to package and monetize, and because it's not fulfilling, getting a little just makes us want more. We are bombarded by it and our appetite can never be sated and the means become the ends and we end up spending all our time, money, and energy chasing the next high, the next new thing. We're a nation of addicts. Viva la capitalism.

Part of conscious capitalism is vigilant defense of your mindshare. Just cuz they're sellin' don't mean you have to buy, or even pay attention. Your time, and especially your attention, are the most precious things you own, and the 21st century has made our culture the battlefield to harvest those things from you as much as possible.

The first step is awareness.

listening to music will not fulfill you
watching tv will not fulfill you
watching movies will not fulfill you
playing games will not fulfill you
eating food will not fulfill you
empty sex will not fulfill you
sleeping all day will not fulfill you
buying stuff will not fulfill you

creating will fulfill you
sharing yourself with others will fulfill you
traveling and learning about people will fulfill you
developing trust and nurturing intimacy will fulfill you
making things better, in some small way, wherever you go
will fulfill you

it starts with yourself
but it doesn't end there
there is always more to do, more to learn, more to give
life is growth and change
things will settle down when you die
until then
seek fulfillment in life
when you are fulfilled, excitement is just a novelty, not a need