Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Cuz we are living in a material world
Everything is shipped out and I no longer claim space in the house to call my own. Well, almost everything. There are still pieces of junk or sentimental items lying around that I couldn't pack up.
As I watched the Mexican movers hoist all 35 boxes - 60% books, 20% clothes, 10% sentimental wordly items, etc. - I wondered with devastation and slight disgust, how in the world I accumulated so much.
With that said, my entire family is a breed of collectors. CDs, DVDs, wine, books, artwork or souveniers from where we have been... I couldn't help but mutter, "People these days - they can TiVo shows, order movies on Netflix, buy mp3s online, read books on their PDAs. Less is trendy for the modern man."
Half a world away, some people hardly have property rights for their kettle, let alone the piece of square foot land they stand on. Material possession is something to aspire to. When I was in Veitnam, we were invited to have tea with an entire family of 5 that lived on a 3'x3' floating house and 2 kayaks. The Dad smoked tobacco, lying sideways, because you would hit your head on the roof if you stood up.
Not that I would turn altruistic and donate all I have to the Salvation Army overnight, but it's something to think about. Every 6 months, I will be moving to a new location - I better become a super good packer or pick up minimalism real quick. My immediate bandaid to all this is eBay, but in the long run, it calls for a lifestyle adjustment.
As I watched the Mexican movers hoist all 35 boxes - 60% books, 20% clothes, 10% sentimental wordly items, etc. - I wondered with devastation and slight disgust, how in the world I accumulated so much.
With that said, my entire family is a breed of collectors. CDs, DVDs, wine, books, artwork or souveniers from where we have been... I couldn't help but mutter, "People these days - they can TiVo shows, order movies on Netflix, buy mp3s online, read books on their PDAs. Less is trendy for the modern man."
Half a world away, some people hardly have property rights for their kettle, let alone the piece of square foot land they stand on. Material possession is something to aspire to. When I was in Veitnam, we were invited to have tea with an entire family of 5 that lived on a 3'x3' floating house and 2 kayaks. The Dad smoked tobacco, lying sideways, because you would hit your head on the roof if you stood up.
Not that I would turn altruistic and donate all I have to the Salvation Army overnight, but it's something to think about. Every 6 months, I will be moving to a new location - I better become a super good packer or pick up minimalism real quick. My immediate bandaid to all this is eBay, but in the long run, it calls for a lifestyle adjustment.
// posted by sakit @ 3:42 PM 
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In a month, I'm moving to my 6th country. My solution - I never move out of any place for good. Now I have homes in 3 countries simultaneously at any given point of time. The only problem - sometimes, I don't remember if a particular thing is in Asia, Europe or America. But I've learnt that I can live without many things, which I thought were valuable :)
Yes - you and Vishen have a crazy life! Quite impressed.
Congrats on 6th country! (But be sure to do something with your land in Estonia - don't let a crazy Turk (or 'kingy') take over it) LOL
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Congrats on 6th country! (But be sure to do something with your land in Estonia - don't let a crazy Turk (or 'kingy') take over it) LOL
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