Not Averse, Just Wary

21 February 2012

I have finally bottomed out for now on the number of possessions and attachments that I feel I actually need.

Since October, I have:

shed most of my possessions, keeping only what I really need (and going as digital as possible with books, movies, and music)
downsized my car to one easier and cheaper to maintain, and more in line with my current lifestyle
moved closer to work, leaving behind the suburban wastelands of Atlanta

From time to time I find that I need something that I used to own. This doesn’t mean I made the wrong decision, merely that I actually know what I need now instead of keeping something ‘just in case’. (“Just in case” is the leading cause of clutter).

Since I live in a house with three other people, the odds are pretty good that someone else will have what I need. The number of things I personally need to own has gotten much more in tune with the reality of my current living situation.

You don’t really know what you need until you have next to nothing. Now I can begin to reacquire possessions, attachments and commitments as they manifest as actual Needs.

I’m not averse to owning things, belonging to formal or informal organizations, or making commitments. I just don’t want them to be a burden instead of a benefit.

I expect that many things I pushed away in the last year will slowly start to come back to me. And this time my relation to them will be different, because I have reconnected with the reasons for needing them in the first place.

Gnothi seauton.