Licking the Razor's Edge (2015)

Of course, your own level of “hoarding” really boils down to how far above “need level”
you are living. The more things that you own that you don’t actually need to live well, the
more your health will decline and the more your Happiness will suffer.
As a Peace Pilgrim, I know a little bit about living close to “need level”, and yet even I
am not immune to the addiction of accumulating. Though I have no home of my own and
own very few possessions, I too keep more than a few items that I do not regularly use –
things that are proving to be a detriment to my effectiveness and a weight around my
Soul.
And so why do we do this to ourselves? Let’s take a look at …
WHY WE COLLECT “STUFF”
*Reason #01: CULTURAL INDOCTRINATION …
First and foremost, we here in the west (and anyone else living in a relatively
industrialized economy) live in a culture that encourages us to consume lots of goods and
own lots of things. Our parents taught us to be “successful”, our friends encouraged us to
“get ahead”, our literature & our films often inspire us to “become rich”, and our schools
taught us to “earn a living” – all so that we can someday “live the good life”.
In addition to these deep-seated indoctrinations, mass media advertising bombards us
every day with beautiful images & soothing tones designed to persuade us to purchase
our way to those same goals. Even our gurus and “spiritual leaders” are now telling many
of us that we can “manifest our own wealth”, or that it is good for us to “access the innate
abundance of the Universe”.
In essence, we are taught at a very early age – and are persuaded throughout the rest of
our lives – that we can buy & own our way to Happiness.
*Reason #02: ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY …
The way our society has evolved has also led to our over-owning. With the passage of
time, the learning of traditional skills has been replaced by learning how to “get online”.
Basically, we don’t know how to fix anything anymore.
On top of that, our consumption-based economy tends to produce items that are designed
to break after only a modest amount of use, so that we will then buy more of them. And
because these goods are produced so “efficiently”, it is also often cheaper to buy a new
item than repair an older one.
The result of this dynamic is the steady accumulation of things in our homes.
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