@Denny Really great post, Denny, I’m looking forward to reading the rest of them. This is the problem I’m still struggling with—pursuit of happiness. Perhaps it’s time to start crafting a life I want to live, instead of constantly relying on external factors to be happy. As you rightly point out, those factors are fleeting at best.
@Denny Good thoughts.As you say, nothing wrong with wanting to be happy, but not if that equates to 'more, more, more'. I was just pondering yesterday on how 'recycling' is a current drive, but back in my youth the phrase was actually (my emphasis) 'reduce, reuse, recycle'.
@ovr I'll check the post, thanks for sharing it. And agreed on your point about sustainability. For many it just seems to be a lifestyle or, in some cases, just a consideration of design and decoration. The internet is full of people touting the minimalism of their desk or home decor.
Ha, minimalism as a term is quite sloppy and complicated!
@pimoore I'm looking forward to writing more, already started. A focus on personal happiness seems trivial when compared to a broader understanding of meaningful life. A life not about happiness, but a life about being a part of a larger whole. Belonging in and to the world.
@Denny I love your writing. I just want to come out and say this: it both inspires and sometimes shames me in a good way and keeps me honest with a lot of my decision making. and I agree with this undue focus on happiness that's purely a product of consumerism with very little to do with actual quality of life. I'm happy to have found a partner who shares my worldview of, maybe not minimalism, but of being (mostly) satisfied with the little things in life instead of being shackled to the "American dream"