Byproducts

The ever expanding pile of us and our stuff. I have so many things, and many which I never use. I will overcome the clutter. I will simplify my possessions. I will not take on new ones lightly.

The machine keeps cranking out widgets for us to purchase. We must shop to keep it going. Consumption is necessary for the system of wealth to continue. And I'm surrounded by piles of worthless items. Somebody somewhere might want them, but how do I find them and get the stuff to them? I don't want to spend my time as a dealer in second hand junk. So I shall box it up and put it in storage and defer the work until Spring. I want a place for everything and everything in its place, but the machine wants me to want more and more. Constant consumption is necessary for wealth, and the controls of the machine are in the hands of those with wealth. I will resist. I will keep my purchases to a minimum. One step at a time, one hour a day, I will free myself from my consumer programming by reprogramming healthier patterns.

exhaust pipe lament

As the season of giving which inherently requires first acquiring usually accomplished with cash or credit at distributing establishments within your traveling distance known to some as Christmas shopping, I'm attempting to redistribute items with little value, to thrift stores, recycling centers and the waste transfer station. I'm overwhelmed by the amount of things, books, clothes, candle holders, broken appliances and electrical devices. Much of it not things I chose to be here but now must take the responsibility, if throwing it out can be considered responsible, the kind of responsible a healthy parent wants for a healthy child to develop, not the kind when the authority decides who's responsible and must pay. But I will have to pay at the transfer station, but it's a small personal monetary price to have a feeling of relief from the clutter in my space. Typing this feels like the most productive thing I've done all day. I move stuff around and sit around and make some choices I may not stick with. The world may not bet better, but I can. Time to clean out the flu, shovel the firebox, and burn a cleaner fire. Let this be the start that never ends. I am the man I want to be. ?";' (those last four symbols were typed by the cat.