I only need a few nice things.
I suppose there was a time in my life when I was on the same bandwagon as most of the world, trying to accumulate the greatest possible pile of material wealth, hoping that it would somehow give my life meaning.
But that's the thing, isn't it?
Things generally don't have the capacity to bring our lives meaning. People on their deathbeds looking back across their lives are seldom talking about their stuff; they're talking about their experiences and especially about the people in their lives. Were very few exceptions what they're going to miss is their partner or is their friend or their children or their dog but probably not their Mercedes or their diamond ring.
Lately, I have been tidying up my office and gradually selling off a bunch of random stuff that — when I look at it again with my current eyes — I'm not even sure why I owned in the first place. Although it has actually been a long time since I acquired any of these items I can't for the life of me think why I have some of them, other than maybe somebody sold me on the idea that it was "something everybody has, therefore I should have one too."
It's not really a healthy way to think, and yet we live in a world where the societal message is still trying to sell that particular paradigm. They try to persuade you that you're out of style unless you have the iPhone 452. Really the only difference between the iPhone 451 and the iPhone 452 is the placement of a couple of buttons that otherwise do exactly the same thing.
Mrs. Denmarkguy and I have been trying to reconsider whether we should be moving to a smaller place since one of the things that makes the idea of moving to a smaller place difficult is that — for the most part — smaller places aren't even a thing.
Sure, you can move into a "tiny house," but half the time that's more of a societal or political or environmental statement than it is an actual place to live. What you can't really find, or at least it's extremely difficult to find, is something like a modest two-bedroom house with one bathroom. They were plentiful 50-100 years ago, but nobody builds them anymore.
"Well, nobody wants that!"
Well maybe nobody wants that but it was a fairly typical starter home 50 years ago but every time one comes up for sale it is bought by some mega corporation or "house flipper" and upgraded to something grander.
Meanwhile, now we have somehow been talked into the idea that a "starter home" has four bedrooms and four bathrooms and occupies 2500 square feet. Ironically, as a result of which, nobody can actually afford a starter home!
I find it all a bit depressing and the more we think about it the more it seems to just makes the most sense to stay in the home we've already been in for a decade and a half even though it's kind of on the big side for us. At least it's paid for!
Maybe we should get a "lodger!" What an old-fashioned idea!
We were discussing earlier how to make it more feasible for us to stay here as we age and one of the answers to that is minimizing yard maintenance.
We're basically going to xeriscape everything while not annoying the homeowners association to the point where they will insist that we should have more lawn. Ideally we will have no lawn at all!
We're still in the speculative stage, of course... but it never hurts to punt ideas around in this increasingly strange world in which we live.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week ahead... Hive falling off a cliff, notwithstanding!
Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!
Greetings bloggers and social content creators! This article was created via PeakD, a blogging application that's part of the Hive Social Content Experience. If you're a blogger, writer, poet, artist, vlogger, musician or other creative content wizard, come join us! Hive is a little "different" because it's not run by a "company;" it operates via the consensus of its users and your content can't be banned, censored, taken down or demonetized. And that COUNTS for something, in these uncertain times! So if you're ready for the next generation of social content where YOU retain ownership and control, come by and learn about Hive and make an account!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly and uniquely for this platform — NOT posted anywhere else!)
Created at 2024-06-17 02:16 PDT
1170/2427