A New Beginning

Hello Readers,

I have now turned in my dissertation and taken a short break from typing, well, anything really. In light of this new beginning, I've taken the time to change the colors of the blog to some more earthy tones. I hope you enjoy them. Over the coming months, I am going to try to bring this website into its own by developing a more distinct (and hopefully refined) style.

I am still not entirely sure of the final format that this blog will take, but I figure letting it grow naturally will be better than trying to force it in any particular direction. To help me keep organized and to make this website more useful, I am going to expand the permanent (non-blog post) pages of the website to include a list of other useful websites on various sustainability topics. I know having a "useful links" page is not particularly novel, but I figure it couldn't hurt.

 With those notes aside, I'd like to move onto an actual topical post...


Earlier this week, another New York Times headline: "But Will It Make You Happy?" caught my attention. Recently, the NYT has had a string of interesting philosophical articles, so I clicked the link and much to my surprise it was not a philosophical article at all. Well, not intentionally. The article refers to a decline in conspicuous consumption (i.e. a sociological concept wherein consumers purchase things to show off their social status) and goes on to laud the savvy retailers who are capitalizing on consumers who are spending more time at home and looking for interactions with family and friends.

In order to make a story out of these concepts, the article starts to highlight the story of Tammy Strobel - a convert to minimalism (kind of the arch-nemesis of materialism and conspicuous consumption) and simple living. Digging a little deeper on Ms. Strobel's blog (RowdyKittens.com) I discovered that she is actively following the fundamental concepts of simple living by choosing to avoid the "work-spend treadmill" (see the Story of Stuff). I have just started to look through her blog, but it looks promising.

In particular, Ms. Strobel's post about the 100 Thing Challenge, which happened to be the first post I saw, brought an interesting idea to my attention. The concept is to limit yourself to 100 personal possessions for a certain period of time (I would guess that ideally the period of time would be indefinite). Similar to the idea in the NYT article, limiting the things you have around you would encourage more social interaction, which ultimately should lead to a happier and more sustainable life.

Of course, with some ironic thanks to airline luggage restrictions, I have been living this past year within the confines of the 100 lbs. challenge if not the 100 thing challenge. Aside, from clothing I've had few material goods to compete with my friends for my attention. Thus, my eminent return to the US - now that my coursework is complete - forces me to reflect upon the possibility of returning to "stuff" and all of the "stuffness" it has to offer.

Fortunately, I sold or donated most of my possessions (including my car) before moving to England for the year, so I do not have to go through that process again. However, will I be able to avoid the allure of gathering belongings once again? It seems that only time will tell. Of course, through random happenstance, I overheard a couple of ladies in a local cafe discussing how one of their sisters had moved with her husband from the UK to the US some time ago and how it had fast-tracked them onto the "work-spend treadmill" (obviously not in those words). The discussion read like a chapter out of a "the symptoms of consumerism" medical guide. The sister and husband were now making more money than they had before but barely had any time to relax. Thus, they went on vacation (returning to England) and were able to relax (or more specifically to not do anything but sit around) with their family for a couple weeks before returning to their fast-paced lifestyle.

Naturally, this discussion was only on side of the story, and it was possible that the sister was completely happy with her material-rich lifestyle. However, the tale, which I heard just a day after reading the NYT article, encouraged me to focus on avoiding such a trap when I return home.


That's it for now. Please take a look at the links on the new page and check back soon!

Thanks,
Sean Diamond