“Finding a place to put your stuff”
Taking advice from standup comic George Carlin and getting rid of more things
In this really funny standup routine from Comic Relief in 1986, George Carlin makes the point that the meaning of life is “to find a place for your stuff”.
We are told that everything we do needs new and more stuff leading to bigger houses and more storage – a never ending consumption cycle.
And why not? Most of us are working with designing, making, or selling stuff to make a living every day. Why shouldn’t we also buy all this stuff? It’s what has been making the world go around until now (they say).
If George Carlin is right, that everything we do in life is moving around our stuff, then what would happen if we didn’t have any stuff to move around except for what we frequently wear and use?
He says it’s walking around (which in itself is a wonderful activity I practice daily).
I’ve been very curious about what lies beyond stuff for a long time now when we have access to everything we need every day via our tech devices and ever expanding rental schemes.
Is there a new way of living waiting for us beyond stuff? A place where we can engage in learning, growing, and creativity with a lesser or even low negative impact on our planet? Smaller, more sustainable housing et cetera.
Are we happier without than with stuff? If so, what makes us happy? And is happiness what we seek and should seek during our short time on this beautiful planet? What would be the alternatives to happiness?
For the past decade, since I began to live nomadically, I’ve kept a small storage with stuff from my past. I’ve never needed this stuff, it’s just been acting like a physical memory and emotional security blanket.
But last Friday I got rid of it all after having digitized the most important items. First I felt a profound loss of not having anything, and then a wonderful feeling of freedom and relief emerged.