It’s easy for us rich 21st Century Westerners to say that possessions are unimportant, because we don’t live in poverty. Even those who think they’re poor aren’t. My Mum grew up in poverty in Britain. Nine people lived in a 1 up, 1 down terraced house with a lean to for a kitchen and no bathroom – the loo was in a shed at the end of the garden. There was no NHS or welfare state – if you didn’t work you starved and a visit from a GP cost money – and keeping clean involved a tin bath in front of a black lead coal fed grate on a Friday night with all 9 people sharing the same water.

So this post acknowledges that on Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs scale we in the West, at the very least, have our physiological needs met. Having said that, I’m not really interested in ‘stuff’.

I’ve just spent 2 years creating a lovely home, but I didn’t put velvet curtains in the bedroom because they look (and were) expensive. I bought them because they are blackout and thermal lined, cover patio doors which suck heat out of the house at a rate of knots and the moon shines directly into the bedroom and lights it up like Blackpool Illuminations. They were a practical choice.

I have all sorts of mod cons in the house but they are all there for a purpose, mostly because I have energy limitations and they save my energy. I rarely buy anything for buyings sake. My last tumble dryer, for example, lasted 31 years and was still working when I took it to the tip. I only got rid because I knew at some stage in the near future it would give up the ghost and I didn’t want to be left without one.

I’ve just bought a new car. Well, when I say new it’s 2 years old – I don’t understand anyone who buys a brand new car, which loses £2000 the second you drive it off the car dealer’s forecourt. My last car was 8 years old and I only got rid because it was starting to go wrong and the last issue cost me £1000 to put right. Living where I do, without any form of public transport and 4 miles from my nearest shop & cashpoint, 9 miles to my nearest supermarket and having health issues which need to be monitored at a hospital 30 miles away, I need reliable transport. It’s a little hatchback, not a £60,000 4 x 4. Despite living in the countryside I’m not down a pot holed farm track and I don’t have 6 kids I need to accommodate.

I buy new clothes when my old clothes have holes in. Why should I care whether the last time you saw me I was wearing the same t-shirt I’m wearing today? I’ve never understood fashion, which is merely a way for clothing manufacturers to make money. In fact, I mourn when my favourite pair of jeans or my favourite jumper has to be chucked out because I know I’ll struggle to find a replacement which fits me as well or is as comfortable. I’ve never understood designer labels. What exactly are they for? What do they say about the person wearing them, other than they have more money than sense? Why would you pay £300 for a jumper with a logo on when you can get the exact same quality jumper for £70 without the logo? 🤔 It just baffles me.

Consumerism baffles me in general. What is the point to ornaments? Although I have a few bits ‘n bobs of keepsakes in my house they are either items given to me by other people and hold sentimental value or are reminders of trips to far flung corners of the globe. I have a smart phone that works – why do I need to upgrade it?

I own several pieces of jewellery, mostly given to me as presents or I’ve inherited as family heirlooms. I rarely wear them. You can’t do DIY, photography or the gardening while sporting diamond rings or a delicate bracelet – so they sit in my jewellery box, often for decades, untouched. Am I less attractive because I’m not adorned in gaudy earrings or a necklace? 🤔

Why do we really buy all this stuff? Is it so we can show to the neighbours or the wider world that we have money and, if so, why does that matter to us? Do we really need to upgrade a 2 lens camera for a 3 lens camera on our iPhone and, if so, why? Do we really need a Converse logo on our trainers, Chanel emblem on our sunglasses or to be driving a Mercedes when a Ford would do just as well? What’s the intention when owning these expensive items?

I just live my quiet, beautiful, rural life without much thought to stuff. It has little relevance to me. I’m not sure it has relevance in anyone’s life really 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’ve already lain on what I thought was my death bed and rest assured I did not wish I’d bought more stuff or spent more money on the stuff I already had. I lay there sad I was never going to see another sun rise. Worried that the bird feeders wouldn’t be filled and the birds would be hungry. Worried about who would care for my pets. Sad to be leaving my loved ones.

If you have so much money that you want to spend it on irrelevant stuff why not donate it to charity instead? Give to people or organisations who actually need it and would use it for something worthwhile. It serves no purpose to your Soul growth and you can’t take it with you when you die.