Examine Why All The Time

I had a stressful day early this week.  It was natural stress brought on by real life family drama and hardship.  These things happen.  Someone gets sick.  A disagreement becomes a fight.  A household utility goes down.  A pet dies.  We come across all different kinds of setbacks all the time. 

Sometimes, a setback feels like a distraction because it can reduce function in other areas or take away focus.  Other times it might act as a motivator.  In either of these physical reactions, emotionally we are eventually drawn to recenter ourselves.  Its also a time when a person might resort to vices as a crutch to get through.  This is a great time to examine why.  Its important to not only rely on our inspired days.  So that's what I did today. I examined why.

Here are my reminders

Simplicity

Simplicity creates efficiency.  NAR did a study about kitchens, and found that the new style of open and expansive kitchens aren't being used to their potential.  Not only that, they are being used far less than the older, smaller, cramped kitchens that had people demanding bigger kitchens in the first place.  The conclusion is that they are widely an unnecessary luxury space purchased for reasons of vanity more than function.  We make better use of limitations than we do the limitless.  I'm just speculating, but perhaps limitations spark creativity and inspiration.

Meaningful relationships

Having less space and being less preoccupied with entertainment areas that we retreat into creates an arrangement that induces more involvement with the others around you.  Sharing space requires negotiating treaties, and taking turns with choices, and even playing together.

A tidy home

Having fewer belongings really cuts down the time it takes to clean and keep organized.  The best thing about this is how much we decrease belongings, is directly proportionate to the time to clean it up.  Once you notice this, it encourages further decluttering. 

Reconnect to nature 

There is enough entertainment options in the modern world to occupy an entire human lifetime without having to leave the house, as well as, options to have food delivered without getting dressed.  Meanwhile there are billions of living organisms just outside the door, all of which are completely fascinating and its free to admire them.

Gratitude 

Once we've eliminated the duplicates, the just in case items, the thousands of items we'd probably never use, and we've streamlined to the things that we truly need, those items become more than just items.  They become recognized as the chosen few.  They become our sustenance.  We begin to cherish the things we need and use everyday, rather than allow them to become camouflaged with all that other crap.  We take better care of them.  We truly recognize and appreciate quality over quantity.

Sustainability

Purchasing quality, taking better care of the chosen few, and cherishing the necessities culminates in having less to throw away.  It might even deliver us to zero waste.  If we fully and efficiently utilize our resources by living humbly, and intelligently, we'll discover the way to share the finite resources of this planet with each other.  We'll be able to conserve the other species of earth, and save ourselves from extinction.  We have to do it together as well as individually.   

Health

Choosing to be outside stimulates movement.  Natural sunlight is full of vitamin D.  The diversity of bacteria in soil, and stream, can help broaden the immune system.  Also, having less decreases stress.

Financial freedom

Perhaps the easiest and most winnable argument against consumerism is debt, or more accurately becoming free of debt.  Its immeasurably enticing.

Buying everything we ever wanted leads us to financial ruin and eternal servitude.  Debt is stressful.  Big bills are stressful.  Spending as little as possible frees us from the constraints that the average person carries, and the obligations they have made to their lifestyle choices.   

Deeply breathing in the good, and exhaling all of the excess. 

Keep Your Tools Sharp

Humanity is something I contemplate often.  Who we are and how we live on this earth are discussed in places of worship, in capitol buildings, in courtrooms, in our homes, in story telling, and from wall street to main street.  We debate our own greatness from nearly every angle.  From our empathy to our dominion, and regarding our actions, we proselytize our achievements and our neglect with equal reverence.  A serial killer might be just as likely to get a feature film starring Hollywood Beau-Hunk as a civil rights hero.

I reached out to a boy the other day to ask him about his thoughts on the student walk outs.  Right, wrong, terror, freedom, dangerous, protection, tyranny, survival, or tragedy; however we see this case, its ours.  I just wanted to know his feelings on it.  A rhinoceros didn't design, manufacture, advertise, defend in war, take a safety class, sell at a pawn shop, or use bullet hurling weapons to kill his peers.  Although the last male white rhino did recently die.  A tree didn't contribute either.  Nor a horse.  This object is unequivocally a human issue.  It requires the full debate of every angle of our human perspective.   ...And this post is not about the gun debate.  Its simply about striving to become a better human.

There are several definitions often spoken regarding humanity.  We have lots of varying opinions about what defines us as human.

• God created us in His image
• We're self aware
• Opposable thumbs
• We wear pants
• Top of the food chain
• We pay for everything
• We govern ourselves
• We developed our super smart brains
• Prometheus gave us fire, or more modernly stated 'science'   ...and so on.

All of these are eligible definitions.  Every opinion matters because we are part of a global community all trying to make the world a better place.  Even though we aren't always right or in agreement about what is better, I believe in our better nature, and that our collective intentions are inherently well meaning.  I also believe in our carelessness, our glorious imperfection.

A safe, clean, and talented woodworker will have lots of different tools.  Some are for cutting.  Some are for connecting.  Some are for shaping.  Some are for finishing.  The woodworker needs to know what they are for, how to operate them safely and accurately, as well as knowing what creative ways they can be used for a newly devised idea.  The woodworker also knows its better to keep a clean shop between uses.

The same is true in all of life.

Humanity can be most simply defined by its unique, great, and powerful selection of tools and we must keep them sharp.  Dull tools don't serve their purpose properly.  From the list above:

• God's creation is a tool humans used to provide answers to the unknowable mysteries, as well as for guidance, comfort, and community.  Right or wrong, no other living creature worships, but humans.
• Our self awareness is a tool we use for identification making us unique from one another.  I'm JT, and you are not JT.  JT has a license to drive, social security and voter ID.  You might have those too, but they don't say JT.  I'm JT.
• Our opposable thumbs are tools for grasping objects that other living things cannot.
• Our pants are tools that protect our most treasured bits and pieces from weather, abrasion, and looky loos.
• Being at the top of the food chain is a tool to impose our dominion.  Sushi isn't survival.  Its delicacy.
• Our money is a tool we use to barter more amicably, measurably, and conveniently.
• Our governments are tools to organize law, and to negotiate with neighbors.  Pair this with money and the structure complicates itself exponentially to provide and to keep order.
• Our brains are tools for understanding libraries full of knowledge, our education a tool for exercise and expansion. 
• Fire is a tool for hospitality. Its shelter, and for cooking, and also for creating even more tools.

As humans we are most effective, most skilled, most safe, when we properly understand how to, when, where, and most importantly, why we use them.   Every time we humans fault in our responsibility in this dominion over all things, it is inevitably caused by the misuse of a tool that we've created.  Hiroshima.  Newtown.  Excessive chemical fertilizers.  Mortgage crisis.  The holocaust.  The great depression.  Oil spills.  ...and so on.

Healthy use on the other hand makes the world a better place.  Bartering caused frequent disputes.  Money resolved most of that.  Power is fought over violently, and it lifts dictators.  Democratic voting steers us toward a more sympathetic governance.  Religion can harbor charity.  Pants are nice too.  Please wear pants.

We misuse our tools sometimes. Many are honest mistakes.  Some are not.  Most misuses aren't as deeply tragic as the human failures I mentioned above.  But as you can see, proper use builds improvements, where misuse results in tragedy.

These meditations are about some of our tools we use at home.  I encourage you to think of everything as a tool that can be used correctly, or incorrectly.  Question yourself about safety, effectiveness, ethics, and organization of all of your tools.  As humans, holding dominion, it is our responsibility to do so.

Do I track my spending?

Did I buy the appropriate square footage to meet and not exceed my needs?

Do I understand the finer points of my loan repayment rules?

Do I use all the tools in the kitchen to enrich my meals?

Do I possess items in my home that don't get used?

Do I meet neighbors and develop allied relationships with them?

Do I sparingly drive my vehicle to places where I don't really need to go?

Do I know what happens to my refuse after it leaves my home?

Do I know what processes took place for me to attain the goods I use?

Do I know the phone numbers for my representatives, how about the services they provide?

Do I wear pants for fashion, or for purpose, or at all?

Do I know what a carbon footprint is?  Have I measured mine lately?

Do I ask questions of my religion to better myself, or am I preaching my beliefs from a position of righteousness?

Everyone is different, and there aren't exactly wrong answers.  The only wrong answer, is "yes I use this tool, and I don't even think about it because I don't care."  Contemplate selfishly, but contemplate globally as well.  It all matters.

Your answers to these very personal questions can lead to your time of unique personhood on this planet being more efficient, simpler, happier, and make you a far more valuable version of yourself, not on paper, but as a part of humanity.  Our ongoing survival as a species may depend on some of this too.  As a group of 7 billion the use or misuse of our tools will be our legacy. 

As an individual, it is rewarding in other ways to keep your tools sharp and keep them simple. 

Proper use builds a more meaningful and purposeful life, one that can afford greater adventures, deeper well connected relationships, profound love, better security, and fewer regrets, just to name a few.   

Rethink the Dream

When I was 33 years old I began shopping for my first home home and I've never been so stressed, and exhilarated at the same time.  Since then, nearly everyone I've ever worked with would confirm that this is a very emotional process.  I remember looking at dozens of houses that met my requirements of having a bedroom, toilet, kitchen, etc. as well as a small outdoor space to sit and enjoy the breeze.  And I remember rejecting almost all of them because they didn't speak to me, didn't feel quite right, or were missing some kind of aesthetic.   Its mostly a hypothetical but that feeling is very real and everyone feels it.  If you've ever been there, you know what I'm talking about.

The are really only two significant factors people measure when processing their various choices of a new residence.  The list of pros and cons we write out might be lengthy, even arduous.  Nevertheless, underneath all the details lies contrasting motivation at the core that is driven by only two things. 

1. Financial Investment

2. Status Fulfillment

The first rule of real estate is location, location, location.  When thinking about the investment, we might think about how far an address is from our work.  When thinking about status fulfillment we might think about what a neighborhood says about our particular demographic or maybe...

• What style of grocer is nearby.  
• What a particular street says about our career success.  
• How safe our neighbors make us feel.   
• The attractiveness of the home might speak to our personality somehow.   
• Some might even look to the immediate neighboring properties referring to overall image.  

We apply for a mortgage.  We choose our financial plan to fit the price point of the home that we already found while window shopping, and if we find out we don't qualify, it becomes really hard to downgrade.  If we qualify for more, we might even reassess a concession or two, that we assumed we would have to make, rather than staying within the budget we've chosen, simply because the banking professional said we could afford more.

• We trust that.  
• We don't question it.  
• We congratulate ourselves for being more awesome than previously thought, and we reward ourselves.  
• We accept the lending limitation as a recommendation of what we should buy, because we deserve it, rather that treat it like the ceiling of risk that it is.

Its so easy to spend more.  Its so hard to spend less.  And its a dangerous trap we allow ourselves to fall into.

When tragedy or other financial roadblock strikes our family things get really tight, or even impossible.  The investment is broken and needs to be rescued because the plan didn't work out.  And its the fault of circumstance, not because we weren't safer up front.

• We seek rescue from outside sources for medical bills.   
• Our status isn't broken.  
• We continue to see ourselves as part of the affluent neighborhood.  

At this point, its become a dangerous trap that we have already fallen into, and we blame the unforeseen event, because our sweat and tears went into the home.  And because its our house,  because our community, our identity.  We were qualified.   We deserve.  We can prove our worthiness.

You see, during nearly every stage of housing, when it comes to our residence, we first consider our status fulfillment and only secondly consider our financial investment. 

• And we've been doing it wrong.  
• We've been doing it wrong for decades. 
• We can, we must, and we will change our thinking.  

1.  Financial Investment

2.  Status Fulfillment

3.  See What Order Those Are Prioritized and Check Yourself Often

Be humble.  Live small.  Invest wisely.  Put the ego aside, not only that, kick it to the curb.  Strive for a mortgage free life.   With no rent.  With no bank (ask me how).

Imagine how easy it will be to pay bills when we all own, free and clear.

Even the humblest of houses becomes a worthy treasure to cherish in this light.

This is how we rethink, reimagine, reshape, and rebuild the American Dream.