Well after surviving my second trip to Wal-Mart during the Black Friday weekend, I came to realize; we all may have too much stuff. Regardless of your economic standing, the fact that you're reading this express somewhat of your collection of stuff over the years. Now my second trip was chore related, had to pick up an air filter and some extra strands of light for decorations, and the day before I was in a particularly festive mood having purchase new toys for my kids. Unfortunately, here we are three days after Black Friday, the store still had a frantic feeling and then seeing the customer service area’s lines already backed up with preemptive returns, started to depress me.
I missed being outside hiking or camping where the only focus was what tasks I had to get done before night fall. Getting disgusted with all the excess we surround ourselves with really made me long for a very minimal setting. I think it’s about two and a half days out in the woods before I feel the true decompression from modern society; and to tell you the truth nothing makes me happier than my journal back to civilization. This of course followed by the overwhelming feeling of appreciation about the time and place I live.
It’s what some may refer to as a win-win. Bushcrafting out in the woods is filled with struggle and discomfort, but also great accomplishment and serenity. Then when you leave the woods you can feel such an appreciation for what you have. So as I watch those returning there recently procured High Def Televisions, I wonder what if any experiences that person may have to appreciate that item. Although this may sound as a judgment I assure you it is not, for I realize that those persons are me. I reflect on the question “Do I appreciate the stuff I have accumulated over my tenure on planet Earth?”
Not that I shun the TV or the Computer or anything modern within reason, it just seems a reoccurring truth keeps on flagging me down. The simple struggles and challenges, accomplishments and appreciation, our friends and families should be the cornerstone of what drives us, not the next mission in our war of collecting stuff.
-Adam
Very well put my friend. I know that over the course of my life I have been thankful for some of my stuff. You know.. the machine that I'm using to write this blog post with or the TV that allows me to watch Planet Earth in high def. But as I sit here and reflect upon my adventures, it's what I do without this stuff that gives me my many of my fondest (or at least what I can remember)memories. The majority of these memories have all occurred on the exterior of the home. Whether that be in the backyard sitting around a campfire, on a bike trail with my family while stationed in New Mexico, or on a skiing trip with my grandparents to Vermont.
ReplyDelete2010 was a summer filled with camping trips and some of my fondest memories of the great outdoors from the past several years. I have had a great time this year and realized how much connecting to nature is important for me. I also spent quite a bit on getting new gear and upgrading old gear. That just seems to be the cycle of life for our stuff. But for 2011, I have already made the decision that I need to concentrate on more outside adventure and less on gear. While I sit here I know that I will need a few new items to replace my older ones but thats to be expected.
Back to the tv's..... yes we all have too much stuff. I am guilty of it my self. I have this absorbingly huge TV in my bedroom and it's not even plugged in. I have watched one movie on it and I have zero intentions of plugging it in. Maybe some day next year it will be in operation but for today its a no go. Talk about having too much stuff. I wish my family would look closer and the need for stuff. Sometimes I feel that possessions are the only things in life they care about (or at least they feel that they have to keep up with the Jone's). I would rather take them on the trail or a day on the slopes but sometimes.. I wonder if stuff is all they care about. It's not a battle, it's a war and were all victim to it.
Be safe,
Andrew