Link to 1st Installment as well as Comment #1 and Comment #2
In the last installment, there
was one question in particular at the end that I wanted to dive into. Could people within modern civilization find a way to be happy if
they had no money at all? I believe, to a certain extent, that this is indeed possible. Though, I must admit, some sort of prerequisite that involves obtaining
some of life’s basic necessities is in order first, and for the large majority of
people, that usually involves buying them with cash. Shortly after obtaining good
clothes on your back, good boots or shoes, possibly some sort of tarp or tent
for shelter, along with select amounts of certain tools, one can forage for
whatever other resources one needs, scavenge the land for shelter, food, and
places to sleep, and traverse a peculiar lifestyle that leads to one’s
survival, and to some, one’s happiness and contentment.
Let’s face it: the rat race can
be a huge drag. I’m sure there are not many people who particularly enjoy some
of the mundane activities that modern civilization has to offer.
The majority of people do seem to think of that
as a necessary requirement for the things within that lifestyle that do make
them happy, such as all the things one can obtain with money, the experiences
one gets from one’s work life and one’s social life, the chance to vacation in
lavish ways to various destinations, and so on and so forth. There is a lot of
work and effort that goes into maintaining such a living, and it all revolves
around constantly procuring and having money in order to be able to accomplish
those things. Often times, one will get swept up in the current, and be too
busy making money that the time for any of the other things slips away completely
if one’s not careful.
There are those out there,
living within the confines of western civilization, all over the world, who choose
to deny this kind of lifestyle that is owned by the necessity of money. The
purposefully homeless (or houseless, as some might prefer to say), the ones who
are successfully reliant upon only themselves, those who find crafty ways of
finding food, shelter, transportation, and other necessities, those who utilize
what the universe has to provide for them to live this way; there are those who
live such lifestyles, and they can be some of the most content people in the
world simply because they aren't bothered by the other requirements that go along with the pursuit of money. Madeleine Peyroux stated it very nicely in a song she wrote entitled “Homeless
Happiness” (embedded below) where an excerpt of the lyrics proclaim "No hurries no worries for me". The full extent of the lyrics can be found here.
The key is the sheer amount of
consumption that one goes through. The less you consume, the less of a
necessity money becomes. The more ways you can find resources for sustaining
yourself in ways that are of no cost to you (or others, which can be possible), money becomes something
you need less and less of in order to survive and thrive. There is an immense amount
of happiness that can be derived from living such a simplistic, self sustaining life. When one
is mainly reliant upon one’s self, a satisfaction of a job well done along with
a life well led can follow suit in the wake of success and survival.
Living simply has its own joys
that money could never purchase, and because of that, I believe it is possible
to live happily without money, but only when done in the right way and when one
has the necessary means and drive to live a life such as this. I certainly
recognize that not everyone is fit for that, that there are major risks
involved with advancing into such a lifestyle that recognizes and embraces an uncertain
future, that there are also others who don’t desire such a life, and that is
understandable. What I merely want to recognize is that one can live a life
like this and be happy. One can essentially live without money for the most part
and go on and thrive in personal accomplishment, and that is sufficient for a
happy life for those who manage to succeed.
"One can essentially live without money for the most part and go on and thrive in personal accomplishment, and that is sufficient for a happy life for those who manage to succeed."
ReplyDeleteAnd for those who've payed off their college loans, their kids' tuition, their unanticipated emergency medical bills...
is it any wonder that the happiest people invariably come from the places where those things are not a worry or a strain on one's personal finances?
I can't help but wonder if it is the money that brings the unhappiness associated with it, or the means that the money is earned? When I participate in work I am proud of- and get money in my wallet to provide for myself and the ones I love- I am helping facilitate my own personal happiness. However, when I finish a day of work I am not particularly proud of, I am no longer filled with the same sensation of fulfillment I may otherwise have experienced. Maybe the monotony felt is not from the money, but from the work needed to gain that money. In turn, it is only a tool to further enjoyment, an ends to a mean.
ReplyDeleteWith all of the points that you touched on in this piece, I imagine that those are a lot of the same reasons that some people find immense joy in activities such as extended hiking trips (like when people hike sections/the entirety of the Appalachians). It is certainly a game of survival, and there is no work (in the traditional, commercial sense) to be done.
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