I went on a pilgrimage last year.
It was probably both the end and the begininng of a significant period of change in my life.
One of the things that came out of it was the understanding of voluntary simplicity. I suppose I had already been heading down that path, but carrying your posessions on your back for a couple of months brings it into sharp reality. Plus the realisation that, in comparisionto the pilgrims of 500 years ago, I was extremely heavily laden down.
It's a reminder that material happiness is subject to the law of diminishing returns. Certainly, money can lead to greater well-being if your basic needs aren’t satisfied and you’re continually worrying about your financial situation.
Beyond a certain point, it makes little or no difference. I sometimes compare the materialist pursuit of happiness to eating when you’re already full. You can eat as much as you like, but it doesn’t satisfy you—in fact, it just makes you feel bloated and sick.
For most of our time as humans, we lived as hunter-gatherers. We were semi-nomadic, usually staying in a site for a few months before moving on. So it wouldn’t make any sense to accumulate possessions. They would have been a burden. So people lived lightly - my time travelling and working in the Pacific introduced me to more communal communities.
I think that’s why it feels so great to declutter, to let go of possessions. It feels so right because we’re not meant to be burdened by possessions.
When we free ourselves of them, we feel liberated. We feel like we’ve regained and reconnected with our authentic selves.
The idea that wealth brings well-being also stops us from focusing on the real sources of happiness, such as flow, contact with nature, relationships, and inner harmony.
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