and now in English
Living with less when
you already own very little can certainly be a problem. But deciding
to live with less when you have way more than enough could mean
living a better life. This is what this text is about.
Below is a list of
things which I don't miss in my life and that in addition, I believe
their absence makes me happier. I am in no way suggesting that owning
these things is negative, only sharing the fact that I don't own them
and have found – in some cases with surprise - that their absence
brought me additional well-being. Some of them have gradually
disappeared along the years, sometimes by accident and never came
back, although at some point in the past I have considered them to be
essential. Others have never been a part of my life.
Microwave:
I used to have one, but apart from the first couple of years, when I
tried out some recipes, its use quickly resumed to heating water for
coffee and soup bowls. More recently, after reading some scary
research papers about the microwave effects over food, it became
restricted to heating water – after all, the possible
recombinations of one oxygen and two hydrogen molecules didn't seem
that dangerous. Once it broke down, I felt relived. I gained a lot
of extra space in the kitchen counter and I had one thing less to
clean up.
Iphone, ipad, ipod:
I have a tendency to get absorbed in my own thoughts and become
oblivious of the world around me (I know...). This is why I don't
like to carry too many things around with me. I'm afraid I'll lose
them, drop them on the floor and get them broken, or (when traveling)
being robbed. In addition, when I am outdoors, I like to focus on
whatever I went out to do instead of being (even more) distracted,
either with gadgets or anything else.
Watch: I've
always owned one and was constantly looking at it, until the day I
lost it. I've got used to living without it and although meanwhile
I've found it (at the bottom of the picnic basket), I never wanted it
back. I was left thinking that someone who takes a watch to a picnic
probably needs to rethink his priorities... And I found out that a
watch is something superfluous in this world where the time is
everywhere: on the mobile phone, the car's dashboard, the radio, on
the TV in every coffee shop corner, on the numerous electronic
outdoor ads... you name it. In fact, these days what is really
difficult is not knowing what time it is.
A picnic can - and should - be one of those rare occasions.
Cable TV (or
satellite or similar): we don't watch that much TV around here.
There are so many other cool things to do... And
if we look closely, when you
have internet access, TV becomes a little redundant.
A capsule coffee
machine: I love coffee but as long as it keeps working, I won't
trade my old filter coffeemaker (which is about to complete 20 years)
by anything else. I couldn't possibly replace it by something that
would make me throw away a piece of aluminum for each coffee I drank.
I know capsules can be recycled, but I firmly believe that we should
first reduce the amount of garbage we produce, and only when we can't
avoid producing it, should we think about recycling.
Electrical kettle:
I may be wrong, but it doesn't seem practical to have another kitchen
utensil spending energy, taking up space and needing to be cleaned
just to heat water once in a while.
Bimby (or any other
kitchen robot): I like cooking
and I like teaching my kids how to cook so, as in the case of the
kettle, I gladly trade an additional household appliance by extra
space, energy savings and less things to clean up.
Dental braces:
OK, this one was just a joke (and it doesn't count towards the list
of 10), but have you noticed the huge number of people of all ages
that suddenly started wearing braces? I haven't yet figured out
whether this is just the result of an extremely successful
orthodontic marketing campaign, or if it actually corresponds to a
sudden and genuine discontent of the Portuguese about their dental
alignments.
GPS: is there
anything better than playing detective and finding out the way on our
own? Getting lost and because of that finding the most wonderful
place we didn't even dream was around the corner? Or asking
directions to someone and getting to know better not just the place
we are in, but the people that live in it as well?
Curtains and
carpets: I used to have curtains when lived in a flat in
town. But now, apart from a rooster that likes to perch on my
window-sill, I have no curious neighbors and the views from the house
are so lovely that it would be a crime to hide them with curtains.
Besides, I would have additional things catching dust and needing to
get washed and ironed. The floor, on the other hand, is wooded. Wood
is warm and beautiful. Some carpets are nice too, but they also catch
dust, dust mites, occasionally stains and... you guessed... they
would need to get regularly washed. Don't get me wrong, I have
nothing against cleaning – I actually really like clean
environments and maybe because of that, I prefer to eliminate from
the beginning the need to dedicate more time than strictly necessary
to cleaning up and use the surplus for more pleasurable activities.
A big amount of
clothing: this is subjective, I know. I've never actually
counted the number of clothes I own, but judging from some of my
friends' wardrobes, I can say mine is quite modest. Not my merit,
though. I am far from having a standard size, so I usually have
trouble finding clothes that fit (they're usually either too short or
too baggy) and on top of that, I don't really like shopping. Not
everything is bad, though: apart from saving a lot of money, I rarely
take more than 5 minutes to decide what to wear each morning – and
believe it or not, this is a daily dilemma for many people.
Regardless of the
personal circumstances of each of us, the consumption of
non-essential goods is a matter of choice. It is possible to live
with less and free up time and money for other things that we find
more important – and these may not even be material possessions.
But more important than this, and contrarily to what the consumerist
society we live in tries to convince us every day, living with less
doesn't necessarily mean failure. It can simply be an option and the
starting point for a better life.
