Robin Greenfield’s latest experiment is to literally own absolutely nothing, not even any clothing. Naturally his post has sparked the usual chorus of naysayers and put-downers.
I wrote some thoughts in response.
A person in this country could give away everything they own, and still find enough manufactured stuff that’s been discarded. We could live for generations without manufacturing one more stitch of clothing or one more stick of furniture.
We have a house is full and yet we keep buying more and more new stuff. Or this is last year’s thing, so we throw it away and buy a new one to replace it.
One point that Rob’s experiment brings up for me is that in this country, even a person who temporarily doesn’t own any physical possessions can easily find more, and a lot of it is new stuff that people have thrown away.
People even throw away perfectly good food.
If we all kept only what we need & use, the planet would be a lot better off.
And:
We are all, always dependent on each other. An experiment in choosing to own nothing is one way to highlight that reality.
After all, we don’t always learn it the other way. We acquire one material thing and earthly token and insurance after another, And yet we never feel fully safe and secure so we go for the next thing that might make us feel safe and secure.
We forget that we depend on the people around us. We are all inter-dependent.
One of my heroes, Peace Pilgrim, walked 25,000 miles around the country with nothing but the clothes on her bag and a notebook & pen. She was promoting a message of peace. She never asked for anything but would accept food if it was offered.
It wasn’t just some kind of publicity stunt, it was her calling. I see Robin and others acting on their calling in a similar manner. Many of us are afraid to act on our deepest inner calling. Would we be taken care of?
Or those of us who are also living our calling but have doubts.
Watching people in the world actually, fully, joyfully living their calling, and being affirmed in it, is very powerful.
And (responding to someone who said they like the idea but we can’t all give up our jobs and houses):
For sure, and it’s even OK to *like* our houses and our jobs and not want to give them up. But it’s good to recognize that we can have some leeway.
Even if we have to stay with the job, maybe we could create some leverage for ourselves to not be forced to work so many hours. That’s one thing I have discovered by choosing to pare down my stuff. I’m not forced to work as many hours to pay for my life. I do have a house but I enjoy sharing it with other people, and enjoy sharing household stuff like pots & pans, extra blankets etc.
Another thing to keep in mind is that for Rob, what he’s doing IS his job. His job, and his heart’s calling. What a great intersection!
And in response to someone expressing fear that Rob is becoming extremist:
You know what’s extremist though? People owning mountains and mountains of stuff that they never use. Some people own entire houses that they never use. Some people when they die, have closets full of clothes and some of them still have the store tags on.
Me too, I totally love what he does! And, Where would the shame come from?
I do know that a lot of freethinkers over the millennia have been shamed by some people. But shame is only as deep as we take it in. Other people’s efforts to shame us are more about them than about us.
(I say this as someone who is routinely shamed even just for choosing to get around by foot and bicycle instead of taking on the personal & planetary burdens of private car ownership. I mean, people *try* to shame me. And sometimes I take it in. Which is just silly.)