I don’t understand the obsession with getting rich. Yes, I know we need money to live on this planet, but we don’t need to be rich. I don’t like the stock market or what it stands for. People who invest in stocks and shares are making their money from exploitation – of the workers in the businesses they own the shares for or the Earth’s resources. There is no such thing as an ethical billionaire and I side eye millionaires as well, unless it was accumulated from their wages alone, over years.
I have always sought ways to live as cheaply as possible, without scrimping on health or safety. I’m not about to buy a shoddily made item that could be a death trap because I safe $25 on it. I know I have a competitive streak and could easily be addicted to gambling, so I don’t gamble. Including with things like that.
There was a time when I counted millionaires amongst my friends and got to experience what it is like to live that way. Yes, money can buy you some beautiful items but at the end of the day, a dining chair is a dining chair, if it can hold you up while eating, it’s done its job. There is a natural beauty and raw honesty in a simple home that meets the most basic needs. No pretension, no grandiosity, no hypocrisy and no stress from feeling a need to keep up with the charade. At least, if you aren’t ashamed or dissatisfied with your home that is. I can’t tell you the number of times I dreampt up my future home, my ‘one day’ home that was going to be all mine. I’ve ‘designed’ everything from a 2m x 4m tiny home to a double story mini-mansion. I had no clue where I’d get the money from to build a home, but dreaming was free.
Now, I want even less than I have ever wanted. Something in me is restless for a home with less, a home with barely anything at all. I’d say my soul is restless but I don’t believe in souls.
I was thinking about this and came across the idea of ascetic aesthetes, the appearance of a life of denial but without the spiritual or religious connection. I’m not giving up anything, I’m not turning my back on the world, I’m simply honouring my desire to have less of everything, less clutter, less stuff, less things vying for my attention. Looking back over my life, I can see a search for peace was a continuous thread weaving through everything. Especially now that I’m getting older. i feel like my time of wanting to take on the world is over and now I crave nothing more than settling down with a cuppa to enjoy the moment. My brain is seeking longer moments of quiet calm, to simply be in the world, to simply be present. Getting older has taught me THAT is the true luxury of this world, finding spaces of quiet, peace, calm. Spaces that allow my brain to slow down or switch off from compulsive thinking. To move through this world at an easy breath’s pace. To just be.
To just be.