TS: material possessions vs. experiences

(And to get off the subject: how do you like LA so far, Jody?)

it's brilliant and awful and always hilarious. i'm having the time of my life.

Experiences, while transitory, are better, both because they aren't going to clutter up your space and because they are usually more interesting and fun.

Wait...haha, I think I may be reading too much into this...

the thing that is interesting, is that the western trend appears to be: to accumulate signs of material wealth, and to dispose of people, culminating in the stereotype of the lottery winner, in their mansion in the country, with a small close band of people around them, hiding away from potential golddiggers

possessions=protectionism/fear?

i wish i had *done* this, referring to the past, and regret

and

i wish i could *have* this, referring to the future, and hope

as though people want to have things, to own things, but when it comes to it, afterwards, they actually wished they had done things instead

Naughty boy. ;-)

i dunno. i seem to be undergoing a seismic shift in the way i look at life, and i'm a lot happier for it.

"Prime Minister, there's a whole generation who are priced out of the housing market."

"Right- I want a whole series of placed articles about the benefits of non-materialism - edgy style magazines... champagne life-style on a beer income....

and whilst you're at it, let's look again at the property market - bring me that Momus article you gave me to read over the summer about how much better the japanese have it living in one small room. "

I know the rule is that if you haven't used it for a year, toss it, but then I take stuff out of storage and go "oh, ace! haven't seen/used/read this for ages!"

i've got a massive bag of clothes and books to take to a charity shop this week; it will be followed shortly by a mammoth stash of CDs. like mark, i think there's something very satisfying about jettisoning stuff.

i mean, i'm still a typical western consumerist arsehole: i have a flat, a car, a laptop computer and an iPod. two iPods, in fact. three if you count the broken one. but the older i get, the more i realise that all happiness is transitory and ... well, contentment is key. and for fuck's sake, if i can't be content with my car, my flat, my iPods and my general western capitalist cumshot lifestyle, i really am a complete and utter cock.

and any "experiences" i have along the way, such as burning aeroplane fuel out of my arse following a night on the organic cider with stet, are a bonus :)

Me, I love to amass things. I don't have much time for travelling as I have to work so much. No, not to buy schtuff,just cause I well, I like to. Y'know, experience. ;-)

that said, i love getting new things, as many new things as possible, and amassing money. gimme.

Yes, the only thing that stops me from SERIOUSLY hoarding is the fact that Stuff has to be dusted. Cleaning, blech.

over the last 3 or 4 years i have noticed a huge increase in the number of storage facilities, suggesting that people simply do not have room for all the things they have accumulated, yet cannot bear to part with them. i can understand the idea of having some big ol musty place filled with all kinds of interesting detritus, but when people are cramped in tiny flats, and they dont have room for their stuff, what good is it doing anyone in a storage facility?

perhaps im guilty as well, all my records and most of my other accumulated stuff is at my parents. what am i doing? pretending it doesnt exist, really. why don't i just sell/give away the lot? ...perhaps i will! ...maybe just not quite yet though

bingo!

Laurel's OTM about depression/war-era hoarding. My grandparents are dreadful/great about stuff like that. Living in the country's handy too, as you *can* keep all this stuff in a huge house and not be tripping over it all the time.

my grandfather was like that too, he had an apartment and basement full of stuff he never used, stuff that didn't work, stuff he just wouldn't get rid of in case someday somebody needed it. i think that kind of depression-era-based valuing of possessions is very different because it's not about having a satisfying lifestyle or being a consumerist tool or whatever, it's about trying to never be in a spot where you can't get by again, never wasting anything.

i would question the implied causality there. i tend to think it works in the opposite direction -- as people lose contact with others and feel less connected to the outside world, they turn to material possessions to soothe themselves and fill the empty spaces. (encouraged by advertising, etc., which cultivates a sense of belonging through shared brand names and gagdets.

usually the first instinct of people who get rich quick is to spend their money on expensive holidays, expensive shopping days out with friends, eating out at expensive restaurants etc ...

No.

i guess it depends where you are. i have friends who have simply bought ostentatiously large flats/homes in the city. i'm not sure "shutting yourself away" is exactly the goal, just a byproduct of moving into large and luxurious homes.

I'm embarrassed that I just figured this out.

i've cut out accumulating stuff by stopping being a fuckwit with money, stopping buying books (now i read them instead), listening to the records i have (a novelty). i still get nuff dvds. it's freed up a lot of money to pay off debts with.

experiences come in all shapes and sizes, people seem to mean 'good experiences with friends'. i haven't really had a holiday in two years.

if i had more time to experience my possessions, i would think differently.