The books I've been reading seem to focus on the current consumer-driven society we live in. Everything revolves around us acquiring more things, making more purchases... bringing more stuff into our lives. Every birthday that rolls around... every Christmas that rolls around... we are faced with the daunting task of buying more things for people... often things that they don't even want. We know that things dont' make us happy... and we are addicted to purchasing and acquiring more things. Maybe it's getting a new car... or a new computer... or buying books... or clothes... or whatever it might be... the latest toys and gadgets that are out there... All of it designed to make us happy... and all of it failing miserably...
But there's another category of things that we can enter into a relationship with... The above stuff is more about "having things"... But what about "doing things"... What about doing things together... Going for a walk... making crafts... playing a game... digging in the garden... writing a book... singing a song... going to a play... taking a trip... Some of these things involve an expenditure... some don't... But the thing with these things (!) is that we are doing something with another person... usually... We are doing something that creates a relationship or deepens it... We are sharing an experience that will become part of our collective memory. We aren't adding more things to our collection... unless of course we bring home souvenirs or t-shirts or the collectable brochure...
Things vs. things... Having/buying/acquiring things vs. doing/sharing/participating things... The one just weighs us down... the othe sparks our creativity and engages us as individuals with others....
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