Our obsession with STUFF aka dead abundance

I recently wrote this post in response to a friend who posted basically an apology for a reflection he had made after attending a friend's wedding. He was expressing sadness over so much resources being used in this way. It was on facebook and soon after he realized how this perhaps was poor timing and his intention wasn't to put water on the high spirits of those who so graciously welcomed him to join in the celebration.

Many people commented on this post, pointing out the graciousness of his humility in acknowledging this. Others started talking about how spending a lot on weddings is only a good thing, items are meant to be used, and the more they are used the more it provides for people's livelihoods and the better our lives are.

I couldn't hold back, I wrote this....

I respect you a lot. As many others have said it takes a lot of humility to reflect on an open forum. And surely it's been appreciated by those who could have been hurt from the previous post. That said, I think it's such a crucial conversation, that needs to be had. I definitely find myself in this trap of wanting to be a 'liked' person and not ruffling feathers, or making people uncomfortable. Largely I do my best to be this kind of a person. But I don't always succeed. In person I'm much more reserved and for whatever reason, talking about important issues online I am never able to hold myself back from how I truly feel. Perhaps I feel safe, behind my computer screen. I don't see the faces of detest or the emotions of judgment for my strong ethical stances. And in no way am I perfect. The worst is that I see how entrapped I am in the system and how torn I feel about it. I have family spread out on three continents, in various cities. Although I hardly own anything apart from a computer (which I often feel guilty about, but is a much needed tool for being in school unfortunately) and a blender and a few pieces of paper from school, I travel a lot. And traveling seems to speak to some part of my soul. At the same time, there is immense guilt for the use of resources that takes. The destruction of so much beauty in our world due to our unregulated use of fossil fuels and other products. I also have dreams of one day settling in a place made of natural materials -- clay or earth, or even learning to be so at peace with myself and with nature to live in Nature not needing anything.. as we once did so long ago and as many native human communities do in many parts of the world- although their voices, lives and cultures are getting squashed out as our industrialized privilege and ways are interfering with their water, food and lands. Now entire communities are either forced to relocate due to loggers forcing them out even brutally murdering them for their lands, or global warming raising the waters- drowning them out, or the climate changing and drying up their crops or their water sources or completely polluted land from our effluent. A mine polluted an entire river in Brazil. Destroying the livelihoods of thousands of fishermen and others who depended on that river. The worst mine contamination ever. For what... for our need and use of technology, our need and use of gold. Think of all the things we use metal for? I'm very much stuck in this system of using, it's what I was brought up with. But I am also very passionate about doing whatever I can possibly do within my comfort and capacity to reduce and limit my use of these worldly possessions. And am doing my best to direct my life in a way that perhaps one day I can too live much more simply without so much waste being generated. It's interesting that we've come to a point where our value system is STUFF-- dead abundance. Instead of our value system being our home of living abundance, living trees, animals and rivers. I can't believe that it is just a difference of opinion or personality that separates me from you. I can't believe that it is merely a difference in personal preference that separates me from the world. I believe those who are benefiting the most from our economic model are driving us to believe that we CANNOT live without all of this STUFF --dead abundance. It's a lie. That we are unfortunately believing, and the driving forces want us to believe that its cool to use the most expensive and the MOST amount of dead abundance that we can for EVERY life event, for EVERY event, and for EVERY moment of our lives. But when will it be that we feel so much utter peace and respect for ourselves and the world that we can be happy in the simplicity of being among others, living abundance. Our family connections being ENOUGH, our living trees feeling like ABUNDANCE in our lives, and the happiness of others including ANIMALS as precious souls that we happen to share the planet with. HAPPINESS for living in their presence, happiness seeing them live naturally. As we once did. living off the abundance of the world, with no need for monetary exchange or richer or poorer. It's all a scam to keep us in the deteriorated attitude of lacking. That we are not enough, this is not enough and most of all LIFE is not enough unless it's dead, manipulated and being used by us in some function that only serves us temporarily while in the long term devastating wildlife and our natural world. I respect that yes, we need to respect each other, yes we need to be kind to each other. But there is nothing MORE important or MORE vital that needs discussion than this today. Not necessarily about weddings. But our use of dead abundance- STUFF.