when you own nothing
I’ve been on the periphery of conversations about the global economic meltdown and the world economic crisis. I hear about it on the news, I read about it in the paper, arbitrary people make reference to it during phone calls about unrelated things (e.g. ‘Oh, you know, with the economic crisis, it’s hard at the moment…’), and even my children mention it sometimes when we’re chatting in the car on the way to school.
I realise that it exists. It’s out there, like the Taliban and tornados are out there, somewhere. However, it isn’t in here and I haven’t been touched by it so it is a non-reality to me personally. I didn’t lose any money on fallen share prices, quite simply because I don’t own any shares. I have no bond, no car repayments, nothing that can be repossessed. Hell, I don’t even have a listed telephone number. The only possible impact the economic crisis could have on me would be the rising price of groceries in relation to the income I have available with which to buy them. Because when you own nothing, you have nothing to lose.
I’ve always thought of myself as a free spirit, a traveller in the world and not a permanent resident. But recently I’ve been feeling conflicted about having not made anything mine. When I die there will be no furniture to squabble over and no house to sell (whatever will my children argue about?). I guess the flipside of owning nothing, is that you own nothing.
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when you own nothing you have nothing to lose!
I feel the same way cos I don’t have much to lose except the security of having a job and an income.
So true… everyone seems to be talking about it…
Craig Smith’s last blog post..100 Things You Might Not Know About Me..
This brings to mind George Carlin´s great routine about “STUFF”. http://www.writers-free-reference.com/funny/story085.htm
If you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need a house. You could just walk around all the time.
Cheers and a good laugh: Urso Branco
I’ve never felt more liberated than when I gave away EVERYTHING I owned… had two suitcases in hand and the world at my feet. I understand what’s truly important now… that real loss is extracted from the heart, not the wallet.
The only place I’ve really felt it is grocery shopping! I can’t believe how food prices have gone up!
angel’s last blog post..I Got Me Some Bloggy Bling!!!
Candy . . . yes my philosophical friend! (even when you’re not trying to be) I own me and that’s about it. All the “things” are irrelevant, the rectangular paper they force societies to earn, and I’ve given away so many things to people who need them more than I. Honestly, if I were rich, I’d spend the remainder of my days feeding and clothing hungry children and people who are starving–I have a tender spot in my heart for them.
Bobby Revell’s last blog post..Busting Bizarro Cherry
Freedom’s just another word for ‘nothing left to lose’. Bobby McGee. Janis Joplin. And now Candy. True.
Relax Max’s last blog post..But, but, but… What IF???
This is such a thoughtful and thought-provoking piece. One of your best, actually, because it extends way beyond the pros/cons of owning of possessions, and asks what is important to leave behind when we die. Anything at all? Special things? I inherited my grandmother’s-passed-to-my-mother-and-then-to-me china cabinet full of white Haviland china. I was raised around the china and my mother used it for all holidays and special occasions. After her death, for the first couple of holidays, my husband and I used it. Then it became easier to use our everyday ware that can take the dishwasher. Hence, it sits behind me taking up space here in the small home office. With the economy the way it is this is no time to attempt to sell it. I weigh the possibilities weekly, no kidding. Maybe I should pack up the china and store it. But then I’d still have the hulking china cabinet sitting here…..
All brings to mind a quixotic book that my sis sent to me for my birthday some years back. >strong<Broken For You, by Stephanie Kallos (summary/review link. I actually had to Google it because I forgot the author’s name, although the book is planted in my brain. Why did I forget her name? Because I was so overcome with the sense of releasing after reading it that I added a personal touch inside the front cover (When You Are Old, by Yeats whose poetry is interwoven in the book), wrote my sister’s name and address, along with a comment that this book should be passed from person to person until it was “Broken” and then should please be returned to my sister. I gave it to a friend in town, who loved it and added her own remarkable whacky art inside, then mailed it to a friend in Seattle. Who knows where it is now. My sister has never mentioned getting it in the mail, and I’m sure not going to tell her so as to keep the surprise in the event it ever does find its way back to Indiana.
You’d just have to read it to see why my china issue relates to this and why one of the options I weigh is to have a china crashing party in the backyard…….
(R U on holiday? Miss your posts.)
Lydia’s last blog post..that’s what you get for lovin’ me
money and stuff are somewhat interesting commodities. . . having none and not having the prospect of getting any is sort of a hassle. . . getting some and (as I like to say) flipping it, can be fun. I earn some, I give it to Kiva, they lend it to someone in the philippines , it gets paid back, they lend it to someone in guatemala. . . is sort of an interesting process. I ask my children to help me find people in Kiva who look like are the best bets to turn a little bit of money into the biggest difference in their lives. Later, my children can fight over how foolish (and complicit) they may have been in our little escapade in keeping the money moving. It’s only the money or the stuff that stops moving that we have to worry about.
The idea that – If I keep a yen today, it will be worth 2 yen tomorrow and 4 yen the next. . . just by me stopping it in its tracks and calling it mine – is so hysterical.
Candy – The wealth that you have in your ideas and writing and what you share on your blog is priceless. Thanks always.
koe whitton-williams’s last blog post..fourteen threadless needles #4
Staying simple is one good thing that keeps our mind clean and clear. With too many unnecessary items around us and within us, we are not able to focus. This is unhealthy both to our life and our partners and friends. Owning nothing, thus losing nothing is a good reminder to us especially in these days of hectic and demanding life.
Irene Sng’s last blog post..Learning from Being Simple
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