The view from Mission Peak Trail speaks a thousand words to me. It contrasts the calm of open space with the closeness of the city, a kind of scarcity vs. abundance, at least regarding man-made resources. The thick mass of homes holds people and all of their stockpiled possessions, the result of an unending stream of Things in our lives. Things we need, Things we want and Things we don't want. Things with a capital T because they have such presence in our psyche.
In a recent talk with a group of seniors, we touched on the issue of whether to hold on to the things we've accumulated in our long lives and what purpose that holds. For those who grew up in an age of scarcity, where resources and money were hard to come by, there is still a worry that those times could reappear. Their deep seated thinking is that we should not give up (give away) our unused things in case they are needed, and that future generations will benefit from them. This becomes a problem when the quantity of things becomes more than our living space can gently handle.
The reality is that today's generation has such access to inexpensive resources that they prefer new Things, they want current styles, they purchase what they need. Life is plentiful and many Things are affordable. And they don't really want old things that have been in someone else's home for decades. That perspective can be perplexing and hard for older relatives to accept, as they have often held on to their things for decades, prepared to pass them on to family. The reality is that leaving a house full of dishes, lamps, wall hangings and figurines is no great inheritance these days. It is often a burden to the family that receives it.
In these days of over abundance, the scarcity mentality seems relegated to history. Our challenge is to overcome both and live with balance in our space.
