Sunday, November 11, 2001
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Sunday, November 11, 2001 |
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Enough with 'things' already By MARY JANE
HOLT I can't take it any longer! If I hear one more politician, media professional, business owner or stock market analyst tell me to go shopping, I think I may scream. "Go out and buy something," is what they all keep saying. They assure me that such action on my part and yours will revive our economy and end the recession that presently hangs like a dark cloud over us. Sometimes, I get so irritated, aggravated and just plain dumfounded at the stupidity no, maybe that word is a bit too harsh; perhaps I should say ignorance or blindness to the reality of our times. Okay, I'm 53 years old. That does not mean I have the knowledge or wisdom of an 80-year-old. It also does not mean I'm an uninformed youngster. I have lived my 53 years to date with my eyes wide open for the most part. I have observed much. I have gained certain insights. Follow me now. Think with me. When have you ever seen "things" bring real happiness? Ongoing peace? Lasting joy? Okay, at a 2 year old's birthday party, the gifts seem to elicit such feelings. Right? Wrong. Note the words real, ongoing and lasting. We start early in America, in this land of such abundance, acquiring all our things. The inhabitants of some Third World countries could never even begin to imagine what goes into our garbage cans, much less what we consume or claim to enjoy for a time. And a brief time it is before we move on to something else. Perhaps I should steer clear of what others beyond the borders of America can, or cannot, imagine. Tell me, have you ever tried to imagine how much food alone we waste in America on any give day? Well before 9-11-01, we Americans had stopped much of our indiscriminate spending. For every economist you listen to I am sure you will hear a different opinion about why that had begun to happen (or not happen.) Discretionary income, that magic stuff business and industry goes after with their advertising dollars, is what it appears we had begun to stop spending. Why? Again, there are a thousand and one theories that attempt to explain the actions, or lack of action, of societies at different times in history. And yes, I have more than one of my own. Put simply, Americans had begun to discover that "things" just don't cut it. And more and more things cut it less and less! There are more things to care for. More things to protect. More things to fight over. More things to compare with the things somebody else has. More things that take up too much space in our hearts and lives. It is both the acquiring of, and the very existence of, these things that crowds out of our lives what is really important. And what would that be? I'm not going to tell you. Look at your own life. Figure it out for yourself. What I will say, and what I even pray for, is that we will continue to rid ourselves of the desire for more and more things. Sept. 11 gave us a new look at the world. But, of course the world had to come to our own backyard for us to see it, didn't it? So, what have we discovered? Have we begun to see beyond ourselves? There are countless individuals all over the world, and yes, even in our own land, who are in need. They are in need of such things as food, clothing, shelter. Warmth, comfort, caring. In need of all the food, clothing and shelter that too many of us take for granted and waste regularly. In need of the warmth, comfort and caring that we may only be beginning to discover how to give and receive. So what does all this babbling have to do with the state of our economy and the way folks are begging us to spend our money? What money? The money we must now use to pay for the indiscriminate use of too much plastic that supplied us with all the discretionary things or activities that never even came near to giving us the satisfaction we thought they would afford us. Isn't it strange that the truths we had only begun to see before 9-11-01 are becoming more and more apparent in the revealing light of so many events that have occurred since the day. It will get worse before it gets better, and that's a good thing. Don't be afraid to clean out the closets of your work place, your home, your heart. You already know there are far too many "things" stashed there, but you have yet to discover the great truths that those things or the absence of those things can teach you.
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