Stuff

(This was written right before I moved to VA Beach-it was created in hopes of speaking to the crowd on MySpace/Facebook)

So here I lay on a sheetless, air mattress in an empty room, in an empty house. No table to hold my laptop, no dresser to set my alarm clock on, no desk to store paperwork. The few, most important things are among me laying on the floor around my new bed. And this is where I stay for a week.

As I laid down, took a deep breath and glanced around the bland room, I suddenly appreciated the treasure of simplicity. It’s shockingly cleansing to the soul. How much simpler is life without “things” everywhere?

Laying here, I have what may seem to be a peculiar sense of contentment. This season of a short week in my room is a treasure. It’s not very often I’m surrounded by plain drywall-I like to call this my beige bliss that serves as a daily dose of refreshment. Truth is, there’s something intangible and far-fetched about being surrounded by four walls of one color, with nothing on them. It’s like reaching for the star your arm is never long enough to grab. It’s too deep to physically get a hold of, yet totally possible to experience.

Most people would say, “Are you CRAZY for still sleeping in the house when all of your “stuff” is gone?” No. I’m not crazy. I simply realized I don’t NEED stuff to enjoy a bedroom in a house. Having stuff is a privilege-one I am thankful for, but that does not deliver complete satisfaction while having.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of people absorb inferiority having more stuff, when actually the less stuff we have can create liberation in its simplest sense. So, the more stuff we have the more prideful we become, the less stuff we have the more free and appreciative we become. Why do we keep getting this backwards?

Boy, all of this reminds me of the fascinating and oh-so-true piece George Carlin wrote about the idea of having “stuff”:

George Carlin - A place for my stuff
Actually this is just a place for my stuff, ya know? That's all, a little place for my stuff. That's all I want, that's all you need in life, is a little place for your stuff, ya know? I can see it on your table, everybody's got a little place for their stuff. This is my stuff, that's your stuff, that'll be his stuff over there. That's all you need in life, a little place for your stuff. That's all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time. A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you're taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody's got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff.

And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up. Wouldn't want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. They always take the good stuff. They never bother with that crap you're saving. All they want is the shiny stuff. That's what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get...more stuff! Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house. Why? No room for your stuff anymore.

Did you ever notice when you go to somebody else's house, you never quite feel a hundred percent at home? You know why? No room for your stuff. Somebody else's stuff is all over the place! And if you stay overnight, unexpectedly, they give you a little bedroom to sleep in. Bedroom they haven't used in about eleven years. Someone died in it, eleven years ago. And they haven't moved any of his stuff! Right next to the bed there's usually a dresser or a bureau of some kind, and there's NO ROOM for your stuff on it. Somebody else's crap is on the dresser. Have you noticed that their stuff is crap and your crap is stuff? Wow! And you say, "Get that crap offa there and let me put my stuff down!"

Sometimes you leave your house to go on vacation. And you gotta take some of your stuff with you. Gotta take about two big suitcases full of stuff, when you go on vacation. You gotta take a smaller version of your house. It's the second version of your stuff. And you're gonna fly all the way to Honolulu. Gonna go across the continent, across half an ocean to Honolulu. You get down to the hotel room in Honolulu and you open up your suitcase and you put away all your stuff. "Here's a place here, put a little bit of stuff there, put some stuff here, put some stuff--you put your stuff there, I'll put some stuff--here's another place for stuff, look at this, I'll put some stuff here..." And even though you're far away from home, you start to get used to it, you start to feel okay, because after all, you do have some of your stuff with you.

That's when your friend calls up from Maui, and says, "Hey, why don'tchya come over to Maui for the weekend and spend a couple of nights over here." Oh, no! Now what do I pack? Right, you've gotta pack an even SMALLER version of your stuff. The third version of your house. Just enough stuff to take to Maui for a coupla days. You get over to Maui--I mean you're really getting extended now, when you think about it. You got stuff ALL the way back on the mainland, you got stuff on another island, you got stuff on this island. I mean, supply lines are getting longer and harder to maintain.

You get over to your friend's house on Maui and he gives you a little place to sleep, a little bed right next to his windowsill or something. You put some of your stuff up there. You put your stuff up there. You got your Visine, you got your nail clippers, and you put everything up. It takes about an hour and a half, but after a while you finally feel okay, say, "All right, I got my nail clippers, I must be okay." That's when your friend says, "Aaaaay, I think tonight we'll go over the other side of the island, visit a pal of mine and maybe stay over." Aww, no. NOW what do you pack? Right--you gotta pack an even SMALLER version of your stuff. The fourth version of your house. Only the stuff you know you're gonna need. Money, keys, comb, wallet, lighter, hanky, pen, smokes, rubber and change. Well, only the stuff you HOPE you're gonna need.

From George Carlin, A Place For My Stuff, Brain droppings, 2000.