For the last year or so, I’ve been (slowly) working towards simplifying my life. This has been both educational, and very difficult. It’s only when you realize how much modern America has strayed from it’s self-sufficient roots that you begin to realize how radical Frugality is nowadays. Years ago, fixing your own car or canning your own home-grown produce was not just commonplace, it was expected. People sewed their own clothes, for goodness’ sake! Shoes got repaired, not replaced. People rode bikes everywhere. It was unusual for a family to have more than one car, if they had one at all.
Today, life looks much different. On one hand, I’m totally repulsed by it. On the other hand, I’ve been raised in it long enough that I’ve adapted to it, and have come to expect things will be there when I want them. I’m used to getting whatever I want, whether or not I can afford it.
This is called Hedonic Adaptation. Basically, the idea is that despite America (or any other developed country) having more riches and amenities than any other time in the history of the human race, we’re not really that much happier than people were hundreds of years ago.
What it boils down to is this: we quickly adapt to the level of comfort we are given, and over time, what was once “awesome” now becomes “ordinary” because well, everybody’s got one. Nobody missed the iPhone 5 fifty years ago, because nobody knew what one was, and nobody cared. They didn’t miss it. They didn’t need it. People could still call their friends on the phone, and could still send them text messages (written on paper, but still…) but today, a smartphone is seen as a “necessity.”
Let me tell you something: Smartphones are not necessary to be happy. Continue reading “Fighting Ego”