Have you ever seen those coffee table books where families empty everything from their homes and a photographer takes a picture of everything on their front lawn?
I am rapt and at the same time horrified by such images. Horrified in the same way that I respond to the the suggestion that we should have a yard sale to get rid of all that stuff we have tucked away in the garage and attic. (I love going to yard sales, but putting my stuff on display, the stuff I'm getting rid of...ugh!) I am horrified in the way I would feel if I invited you for dinner and instead of sitting on my lovely patio, we set up TV tables and had dinner perched at the edge of my unmade bed while looking at the tipping piles of papers and stacks of books I've been meaning to get to for months.
And, simultaneously, those images are captivating, as I look at the details of what each family holds on to. Each container, chair, rug, or toy tells something of what is important to that family. It makes me think about what is important to me. If I did ever get to those piles and stacks, and assessed their contents, would I keep them around?
A social media challenge issued by David Bruno in his 2010 book and subsequent 2012 Ted X talk is the100 thing living challenge...
Bruno says, "simplicity is action...when we pursue simplicity we demonstratively prove to ourselves that we do not need all that stuff...we prove that the model of excess is not a measure of success".
Is the sum total of what those family portraits capture more or less than 100 objects? What 100 things might I pack up to take with me in my Airstream? How much is 100 things? What might I leave behind? Give away? Is the act of simplifying the things in my life why my Airstream project is in some way so appealing?
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| In 2010, an NPR's All Things Considered featured Peter Menzel's book Material World: A Global Family Portrait, here: https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2010/08/10/129113632/picturingpossessions |
I am rapt and at the same time horrified by such images. Horrified in the same way that I respond to the the suggestion that we should have a yard sale to get rid of all that stuff we have tucked away in the garage and attic. (I love going to yard sales, but putting my stuff on display, the stuff I'm getting rid of...ugh!) I am horrified in the way I would feel if I invited you for dinner and instead of sitting on my lovely patio, we set up TV tables and had dinner perched at the edge of my unmade bed while looking at the tipping piles of papers and stacks of books I've been meaning to get to for months.
And, simultaneously, those images are captivating, as I look at the details of what each family holds on to. Each container, chair, rug, or toy tells something of what is important to that family. It makes me think about what is important to me. If I did ever get to those piles and stacks, and assessed their contents, would I keep them around?
A social media challenge issued by David Bruno in his 2010 book and subsequent 2012 Ted X talk is the100 thing living challenge...
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| https://www.amazon.com/The-100-Thing-Challenge-Everything/dp/0061787744 |
Is the sum total of what those family portraits capture more or less than 100 objects? What 100 things might I pack up to take with me in my Airstream? How much is 100 things? What might I leave behind? Give away? Is the act of simplifying the things in my life why my Airstream project is in some way so appealing?
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