It Seems Really Important, At The Time

The value of embracing minimalism is that it moves us away from material possessions so we can get a tighter hold on life, real life. Time for our family, travel, experience. And as I try to live my advocacy for the experience, I realize that being involved in too many activities can create its own form of clutter.

We’re entering that time of year when the festivals announce their lineups, the summer concert venues reveal their schedules and the final, final tours of our high school favorites broadcast their itinerary. And it seems like a really big deal, until it’s over.

In the late 70’s a record album could be purchased for less than $10. A concert ticket would have been $10 - $15. Today an album can be downloaded for about $12.99, but a concert ticket can cost 10 times that amount. So how many concerts can one person afford in a summer season? I can fly to London and back for the price of two tickets to some of the most popular touring acts hitting the stadiums in 2019. But where do I draw the line?

I confess that I’ve seen about 25 James Taylor concerts since 1976 and honestly, I only remember a few of them. The magic is in the memory, the experience. In retrospect I wish I would have seen JT five times and 20 more artists once. But in my youth, it was the summer thing to do, and so I learned.

When an event comes to town, the marketing can be captivating, everyone is talking about the fact that this may be the last time for this band to come around. But when they leave, they’re gone. No one really talks about it any more. If you saw a band in 1979 or 2019, nobody really cares. If you want to go, go. But don’t feel that anyone other than you really cares if you went or not. It’s your life, your experience.

There are moments in my life that anchor me, and most of them involve travel.

Choose your events carefully. What resonates with you? What will give you the most value for the dollars you spend?

Mindful decisions will provide the most value to your life and increasingly, the most benefit to your wallet.

Increase the peace.