Less Stuff

     Too much stuff is a common complaint. There were jokes which began in the 1980s about the person who dies with the most stuff wins. As if your stuff will make you a winner or loser.

     I liked competing at sports when I was younger. Baseball, Track, and a version of American Football without tackling. I won and I lost. Both sides of the outcomes had their lessons. Go on a winning streak and you think it will never end, then it does. The immediate thought is that you'll start another winning streak, then it never happens. Very common outcomes in life, just like acquiring too much stuff.

     Yes, I sometimes wish I had saved every scrap of paper from every year of my schooling. Then I think about all the moves I made and how heavy it would have been to take my entire past with me on each successive move. Yes, I could have put it in storage or left it with my parents, but what's the point of stuff if you have to make a special trip to see it or use it?

     "You hit a certain age, and suddenly a major source of happiness comes from having less stuff."--Hugh MacLeod

     So I joined the minimalists at a tender age and lost all chance of sitting by a fire in my golden years and rereading my 3rd grade science papers. Not a big loss you might readily admit, unless you are a hoarder.

     I will say that some of my college professors provided their classes with notes which would have stood the test of time, as well as a couple of high school teachers, Milo Okkema comes to mind.

     I had him for an elective class in Economics. His notes were typed on both sides of the mimeograph sheets he would hand out. He had so much to say he would even turn the sheets on their sides and type, no white space was wasted by this good Dutchman. I feel very fortunate to have been taught by him at his peak because it was clear to everyone in the class that he was giving this subject his all. He retired five years later in 1980 at the modest age of 55, thanks to a hard fought teachers union contract which was negotiated in the early 1970s. No doubt his thriftiness helped make his pension go further than for most.