My Wish List Is Full of Clutter

We don’t buy a lot of stuff anymore. If we don’t need it, we don’t buy it. But there’s a gray space between a need and a want. Hobbies for instance. We want stuff to nurture our hobbies, but do we need it? Yes actually we do. Hobbies can profoundly impact our lives and we should seek creative outlets to enrich our existence.

But how do we walk that tightrope? Reducing clutter can be like dieting. We contract, then we expand. We’re not happy that we expanded, so we focus on reducing again.

One way I fight the desire to expand is through my Amazon wish list. It’s loaded. So loaded that I have to clean it up every once in a while. But when I want something, I look it up and throw it in my wish list. It’s strangely satisfying. I look at it, learn about it, understand the specs and I save it. Perhaps some day I’ll buy it, but not today. I’m finding that more frequently it’s not tomorrow either. Time has a strange effect on our wants. What we want, or need today is often not what we want or need tomorrow or next month. By postponing the purchase, I’ve eliminated purchasing many things that I certainly didn’t need and more importantly, that I really didn’t want.

Minimalism is like riding in a hot air balloon. I find that as I lighten my load, I am able to soar higher. And the higher I sour, the richer my experience.

Addendum: Another thought I’d like to add to this column. Consider adding up the potential cost of buying everything on your wish list. You’ll may be shocked at the sum total.

Increase the peace,

Jim