CONFESSIONS OF A WANNABE ECO CHIC: A Matter of Stuff

Yesterday I had a great conversation with a spiritually inclined Long Island poet and professor, and our conversation steered around to stuff—how we live in a time with an ever-progressing hunger for stuff, thinking it’s going to fill some sort of void. But does it truly?

Does stuff really make us happy? In a sense that we feel fulfilled and content? OK, maybe that giant helping of MickeyD’s fries tastes good for those first few bites, or that new pair of shoes makes you feel oh so cool for the first few minutes you wear them (until inevitably they start to chafe and ache). But have you ever noticed it’s a fleeting sense of contentment? Too often, we end up feeling empty, devoid of satisfaction, maybe even just plain bad.

Searching for some sort of meaning in our increasingly hectic lives—between meetings, appointments, stocking up, dropping off, and all that techno-babble that sucks us in—is becoming more and more difficult…even more so now during these challenging times.

After all, how much stuff do we really need? I’m convinced that if we stop anxiously pursuing the accumulation of stuff, and thereby create more time to take a breath and relish a bit in simplicity, we just may find some meaning in just being. As the old saying goes, less is more. It’s the mantra of the sustainable lifestyle, and there is much to be said of those 3 simple words.

I’m hoping this wise professor, a colorful poet with a cool perspective on life and an amazing way with words, will begin contributing to canvas his thoughts on the state of spirituality, how we might search for something better than just surrounding ourselves with more and more stuff. He has a lot to share with the canvas community, so stay tuned to canvasli.com and with luck you’ll hear from him soon on this website.

—Diana Murphy, canvas editor in chief