The Thing About Things

I’ve always valued experiences over things, and this is never clearer in my mind than upon returning from South East Asia, where people have far less stuff but always seem so much happier and more content than us Western folk.

As a Non-Mum, I often think about the stuff I’m accumulating in life, and wonder, perhaps morbidly, where it will all end up after I’ve gone. That’s the thing about not having any children, there’s nobody to leave any of my possessions to…which can make me feel sad at times, but can also be incredibly freeing.

As I’m getting older I ask myself: if there’s nobody to inherit any of this, do I really need to buy it all in the first place? Can I make do without it? I think that’s why my house is kind of on the ‘shabby chic’ side these days – I’d rather spend my money on doing than having.

I tried keeping up with the Joneses years ago, when I was expecting my life to look a lot like everyone else’s: husband, nice house, flashy car, 2.4 children. It was exhausting trying to keep up!

Now? I don’t bother. My life will never look like ‘most people’s’ – and I’ve accepted that. I wrote this poem on returning from one of my many jaunts to the Far East and it sums up how I feel about filling the hole in our souls with material goods. Can you relate?

The Thing About Things

The thing about things
Is that objects can’t talk
They won’t laugh at your jokes
Or come out for a walk

The thing about things
Is that stuff gathers dust
It clutters your house
Or turns into rust

The thing about things
Is they can’t make you better
They won’t say the right thing
Or cheer you up with a letter

The problem with things
Is the buzz won’t last long
You hand over your money
But what’s wrong is still wrong

The things that we buy
To fill holes that we’ve found
In our souls end up filling
Big holes in the ground

So whenever you think about buying a thing
Consider the happiness it may bring
If the thing won’t benefit your heart or your head
Put it back on the shelf
And buy an adventure instead.