It’s true, you’ll never see a hearse towing a U-Haul, meaning, you can’t take it with you. Let’s do some basic math, accumulation doesn’t equal happiness, it just equals stuff; reminds me of the George Carlin bit, “A Place for my Stuff” https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/07/30/a-place-for-your-stuff/. Sadly, fewer and fewer people can afford a place for their stuff, which makes me use Carlin’s 7 words you can’t say on TV. I won’t use them here, instead, let’s talk about 11 words I will use, a Depression era slogan that has stood the test of time, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”.
Use it up
Why did we decide waste was a good thing? I won’t bore you with waste statistics, mostly cause I’m scared AI (or is it SI – Super Intelligence now, ooooh, does it wear a cape?) will have its way with me as I try to ask a simple question. I am sad that we’re so wasteful now. Use up that last dab, bit or bottom of whatever, it all adds up, in the long run.
Use other people’s stuff too, borrow, with permission (don’t be a pest and return things in good shape). The world is a big lending library. Speaking of libraries, they’re your friends. Free and fun. Full of: books, large print books, audiobooks, ebooks, magazines/newspapers (print and online), DVDs, streaming, video games, programs, games, snowshoes, guitars, park passes, etc. Again, free! Use it or lose it. “Waste not, want not” should make a come back.
Wear it out
We were sold fast fashion like it was a good thing. Wear something new everytime you go out! Why? My well-loved $4 oatmeal flecked turtleneck sweater gets de-pilled regularly, and I think it likes it. My favourite socks are holey relics. Some of my shoes have become so very, very comfy they have their own air-conditioning. My $2 black cable knit sweater is warm, cozy and every time I put it on, it’s like a hug that holds memories. I like having jeans that remember more than I do, it’s like a magic spell. Wingardium Levi-O-Sa!
Make it do
Remember when a slice of bread was also: a hot dog or hamburger bun? The bottom of a tuna melt or manwich? A pizza crust, a pudding, grilled cheese, toast, French toast, cinnamon toast, so much toast…and we lived; more than that, we liked it. We had one type of ketchup (which I use for French toast, there I said it!). Growing up we had 5 TV channels and all of them played Tommy Hunter and Lawrence Welk, my memory might be faulty on that one, but it seems plausible? And A-One and A-Two…
We walked 50 miles to school in the snow in Canada’s North, ok, it might have been slightly less, but it felt like it. We got bizarrely excitedly by a pen with 4 colours. Putty that copied cartoons! Rocks were pets! We had to wait until Christmas to watch, “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” and Halloween to watch “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” – if you missed them, well, you had to wait until the next time, next year. You used a pillow case for Treat or Treating. No subscriptions. No QR codes. No verification codes. Simple was and is fun.
Do Without
I know, this is a radical notion and an unpopular one, but doing without rarely lead to death, despite many a teenage lament: I’ll die if I don’t have new shoes and the latest iPhone. I’ll die if I don’t spend my college fund on tickets to see: BTS, Charlie xcx, Riley Green, Chappell Roan (I would also like to keep on dancing at the Pink Pony Club), Olivia Rodrigo, Backstreet Boys, Billie Eilish, HUNTR/X (as real as anything else right now), Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift, etc. These and many other things are wants, maybe fun wants, but still wants.
Not needs. We need oxygen. We need water. We need shelter. We need food. We need safety. We need sleep (or so I’ve heard). Arguably we need love and comfort (some may disagree, pssst, they’re wrong). We’ve mixed up our wants and needs to such a degree we have no idea what’s what anymore.
In Nature, nothing tries to be more than it is, good or bad. A bird is bird. A river is a river. A hurricane is a hurricane. A wasp is a wasp. A bee is a bee. A tree is a tree. A flower is a flower. Humans have decided to want, want, want instead of just fulfilling our needs. Just cause you want something doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good thing. In the words of those philosophers, The Rolling Stones, “You can’t always get what you want but if you try sometime you’ll find you get what you need”.
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2022/01/21/cant-buy-me-love/
