The less things you own, the more free you are?

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IN the latest episode of Clannad that I've watched, Tomoya and Nagisa live in a cheap, small apartment with just a living room [with a dresser, table, and closet for the sleeping mats], tiny kitchen with a stove, fridge, and cooking stuff, and a bathroom. I think I could easily live like that [though not in an apartment], except I can't get rid of my books. >.<

It possibly depends on what you own.

There's a freedom in owning large value assets (i.e. a number of properties (no mortgages)).

Financial freedom is a freedom. Money is still a 'thing'.



The issue is possibly partly cultural.

It'll possibly be the case that the poorer the majority of the West becomes, the more the media will promote an image of 'less is more'.

Maybe.

...Nyeh . Considering how little I own .

_________________
Renal kidney failure, congestive heart failure, COPD. Can't really get up from a floor position unhelped anymore:-(.
One of the walking wounded ~ SMASHED DOWN by life and age, now prevented from even expressing myself! SOB.
" Oh, no! First you have to PROVE you deserve to go away to college! " ~ My mother, 1978 (the heyday of Andy Gibb and Player). I would still like to go.
My life destroyed by Thorazine and Mellaril - and rape - and the Psychiatric/Industrial Complex. SOB:-(! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

It feels good to get rid of stuff and open up more space...to get new stuff. lol

I like having extra things put away, to have a surplus in case of bad times or high prices or whatever. I feel more of a sense of freedom in that, than in being minimalist.

Attachment in the Buddhist sense is the issue of highest importance here(as it relates to feeling free or bound about objects)

The number of object you have around you is irrelevant....the core issue is whether or not you have an attachment to those objects.

Even a mendicant monk can suffer with an attachment to her/his begging bowl.

Attachment to any object(or idea or person etc....i digress) always creates grounds for mental suffering (eg. the fear of losing it, mistrust of others, and many many more).

I struggle a lot with this issue.

Hope an Eastern perspective is of some value.

I have a tendency to accumulate things and I've had to toss stuff out. Fortunately, today I can acquire many things like movies, art, or music in digital form so it doesn't actually take up space other than my hard drive.

There are five main tenets in Jainism, the 5th one being "own little, want little." It's call aparigraha. Our Digambar monks take it to the extreme by not even owning clothes. Anyway, owning little and wanting little frees me to do other things, like write books. I currently live on $2,000/year. This is what I own:

My used car.
This used laptop.
One pair of pants.
Two shirts.
One pair of shoes.
A blanket.
A sleeping bag.

It'd be nice if I didn't own clothes, but if tried that around here I'd be arrested with the quickness.

...But I have practically NOTHING ! And I am pretty down about it .

_________________
Renal kidney failure, congestive heart failure, COPD. Can't really get up from a floor position unhelped anymore:-(.
One of the walking wounded ~ SMASHED DOWN by life and age, now prevented from even expressing myself! SOB.
" Oh, no! First you have to PROVE you deserve to go away to college! " ~ My mother, 1978 (the heyday of Andy Gibb and Player). I would still like to go.
My life destroyed by Thorazine and Mellaril - and rape - and the Psychiatric/Industrial Complex. SOB:-(! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

I recently cleaned out my closet, and now I have a little hide-y place. I also cleaned out a lot of stuff in my room that I no longer want nor need.

^
Frankly I think the Buddhist view of attachment to objects can be taken too far. I guess it was mainly designed for folks who want to be monks. If a possession gives pleasure, I don't see it as all that wrong, or even humanly avoidable, to feel sorrow at its loss and to fear losing it, to some extent, though obviously excessive attachment to things can become unhealthy. I think your strong reluctance to attach to your new art work shows how dropping this attachment thing doesn't really solve the attachment "problem." Rather like a war veteran whose close friends have been killed in front of him ceases to want to make new friends, or a person with bad experiences of relationships loses the motivation to try again. The hope is that such folks eventually find the strength to invest themselves again and to take the risk of it going wrong, knowing that if it does, it will hurt.

I don't own much; in fact, everything I own fits inside my SUV. I will admit I usually aim in buying quality items I need, in hopes they will last. I absolutely hate clutter... Probably why my dream home is a studio or 1-bedroom apartment in downtown.