There are a lot of things in this world. I mean objects, physical things, the kind of things that are manufactured and sold to us in mass quantities. It’s insane the amount of stuff one person can accumulate in their life. There are television shows all about what to do with people who hoard stuff, which leads to shows about getting rid of the clutter of this stuff.I admit I like to buy things, and I have a lot of stuff. I have many things that I probably don’t need. Trinkets and knick knacks don’t really serve a purpose, but we have them anyway. I have many books, but these I will never part with on general principle. I have lots of paper, and I soon hope to shred most of it that is old and not needed.I got to thinking the other day about things, and how our ancestors who lived a long time ago probably didn’t have so many things. They may have had a few things that really meant something to them. They would have things that were useful to living, like gardening tools, clothing and food. Maybe a car once they were invented. And a phone at some point to communicate. A refrigerator as soon as that was available, and then a radio and television.

Actually, now that I‘m thinking about it, advances in technology seems to have led to the increase in stuff, with the creation of movies on vhs, then dvd, and now blu-ray. Music came out on 8 tracks, records, cassette tapes, cd’s and now digital files. Every year or so there are new phones and computers, different types of printers and televisions.

It’s easier than ever to consume things and buy them these days. But it’s getting harder to find places for everything in our homes. And thus we must purge ourselves of all the things we no longer want or need, or use.

Is it good for us to have so much? Does it make our lives happier knowing that we have boxes full of useless stuff just lying around attics and garages, or in basements, never to see the light of day once they’ve been packed away?

Maybe all this stuff is just a placeholder, because if they weren’t there, we would have empty space. And most people who have space eventually feel the need to fill that space. It’s rare for a person to have space for something and not find something to go into that space. If you see an open field somewhere, eventually someone will build houses on that field. People can’t leave things as they are, open and free of things.

Maybe the way to live is by only having the things around you that please you, the things that make you happy, and that take up little space, leaving you with enough space to comfortably enjoy life. There really is no need to continually go out and buy things, as long as the things you already have work for you.

Just imagine if all the stores shut their doors, and all we had left was the old stuff. I bet we’d all save quite a bit of money cause we’d have to shop at flea markets and yard sales. Or people could create clubs where they trade and barter with one another.

I wish we had simpler lives, lives like the ones my ancestors led. I imagine they didn’t have a lot of stuff, the ones that came over from germany and france. They probably had a few suitcases of clothes, perhaps a trunk full of household items, family heirlooms. But that was it. I wish I knew what their lives were like, living with less things around them. I wonder what they filled their spaces with.