I recently watched a Talks At Google presentation from James Wallman, the author of Stuffocation. The video is worth a watch - the talk itself is only the first half hour (the rest is Q and A).
His premise, which I buy into completely, is that the 20th Century was all about materialism. "He who dies with the most toys wins". I think more and more of us have now bought into the 21st Century argument that this materialism did not lead us to happiness.
The new materialsm is now experientialism. What makes us happy are the memories we accumulate, not the stuff. It's the experiences that count, and it's the experiences that provides us the social status we crave.
He has an excellent challenge during the end of the talk:
"Spend the same amount of money you would normally in a month, but have absolutely nothing material to show for it at the end."
So at the end of the month, you wouldn't have a new purse or a new car or a new smartphone, but you may have had a couple of days skiing, a dinner out with friends, gone to the movies or flown to Australia. I think that having photos to show at the end of it all would be fair game.
Let me know if you're willing to try this - I am...
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