106. F*ght club and essentialism

This week I was moving house and I thought back to that famous quote by Tyler Durden,

The things you own end up owning you

I had accumulated boxes upon boxes of stuff that caused great emotional strain when moving.

Thoughts like;

“What do I do with that box of books?”

“What if I need that spare t-shirt?”

“What if I regret throwing that away?”

It wasn’t the physical labour that got to me whilst moving- but the mental.

It got me thinking about the finite nature of our brain capacity.

Whenever you say yes to something you immediately say no to something else. Completing an action, going somewhere, (or in this case) accepting something, prevents you from something else.

The issue is when you believe you can handle more than you can. The truth is everything takes a toll.

You go on the phone in the morning- your attention is owned.

You have lots of physical things- your mental focus is impaired.

You are purposeless- your intentionality is limited.

The question then is; should we own anything?

I own a lot of stuff, and I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing, but it’s the unnecessary collection that is.

When it comes to items that you own, intentionality is key. Going back to the original quote, ‘the things that you own end up owning you’- You wouldn’t give a part of yourself away to something that doesn’t matter.

Whether it’s material goods, hanging out with someone, or decision making, we have to recognise they all have an expense.

So here’s a healthy reminder for you to check your brain budget and work out what things are essential, like me, you’ll probably find that there are a few things that can go.