Umair Haque on The Opulence Bubble

I believe the mini-bubbles... are different ripples in what might call the surface of a superbubble: an opulence bubble. Here's what I mean by opulence bubble: our conception of the good life, as I've discussed with you, has been centered on what I call hedonic opulence — having more, bigger, faster, cheaper, now. But we might be finding out, the hard way, that the pursuit of lowest-common-denominator industrial age stuff might have been steeply overvalued, in terms of its social, human, and financial value. And now, it's coming back down to earth.

 Umair Haque in the Harvard Business Review.

The Dumpster Project

Free At Last

"I sold 90% of my possessions leaving only some family heirlooms, art, and clothing in a small storage space. I sold my stuff off to my family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. Even though I knew it was what I wanted to do, it wasn’t an easy or comfortable situation. As I handed over the items I worked so hard to acquire I tried to think of it as if my couch was really shackled to me and now when someone bought it, it was now shackled to them, keeping them weighted down and unable to move. I on the other hand became lighter and practically lifted off the ground as my bed and last pieces of furniture and kitchen gadgets left my apartment."

Read the full article at Miss Minimalist.

What's Your Favorite Toy?

Designed for kids, but relevant to grown ups.

The Joy and Pain of Glossy Magazines

Today's quote comes from the book Living Oprah by Robyn Okrant:

"The glossy pages of O reflected a lifestyle quite different from my own. As I paged through the lovely clothing, the jewelry, the adorable bric-a-brac, I felt like I was visiting a natural history museum viewing a diorama of how the other half lives... As fun as it was to visit fantasyland in the moment, afterward the excursion made me feel lacking... The magazine made these items look so much fun to own. But what fun is it to be reminded that I am not one of the people who gets to wear the $178 pair of miracle jeans that O's fashion team celebrates for making every woman appear silm and sleek?"

Video fo the Day: Is Your Stuff Holding You Back?

Matt Cheuvront, who blogs at Life Without Pants, has recorded this book review of Everett Bogue's "The Art of Being Minimalist" and a call to lose the attachment to stuff.

Your Hindering Your Potential (With Your Stuff) from Matt Cheuvront on Vimeo.

Overwhelmed with Clutter?

Are you overwhelmed with clutter? This may seem like an obvious suggestion, but have you considered that you may have too much stuff?

The Happiness Project’s Gretchen Rubin, writing for Slate, argues organization isn’t your problem; it’s a problem of excess attachment.

For a theme song to this post I recommend Who's Whose by John Flynn. ("Do you own the stuff you own/or does the stuff you own own you?")