Needs

Nothing inspires more than moving when it comes to reflecting on the relationship between one and one's possessions. Which is really the owner and which is really owned?

I've just finished packing my possessions more than a week behind my intended schedule. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that this project consumed more than 300 man hours! I'm sure most of you have had this experience. Packing is an almost supernatural phenomenon of perpetually diminishing progress. That is, on day one half of your things will be packed. On day two, half of the remaining things will be packed. On day three, half of the remaining things will be packed. And so on, ad infinitum. The whole time you're thinking "where the heck is this stuff coming from? How did I ever come to own so many things"?!

Now that I'm finished, I'm really puzzling over a better solution. Seriously, I'm looking for some help here. Is there an ideal quantity of possessions? I've gone through purging phases in the past, in which I've discarded nearly everything, only to discover that sleeping naked on the floor of caves became unfashionable for a reason.

As soon as I realized that I was finished with the packing project, I started trying to imagine the least amount of possessions that could fulfill basic human needs practically. I found the path of my own thoughts to be interesting, and so now I'll share them with you.

Using Maslow's hierarchy of needs as a model, I'm interested in considering only some of the most fundamental necessities (in order of urgency): air, water, homeostasis, food. Before we even discuss material possessions, we have to assume some sort of shelter (although toting them around in a shopping cart is also common in L.A.) - in this case an apartment. Well, this conveniently fulfills the first three needs. As you'll see, food becomes the rub.

While food does technically 'grow on trees', they are no longer the most practical access point. Nowadays we have to buy it at a store. Right off the bat I need a vehicle (bicycle in my case) for transporting my food, and thanks to modern social conventions I need some clothing to wear when I'm buying the food as well ("no shoes no shirt no service" as they say). Once I get it home, I'm going to need some pots & pans and minor appliances to prepare it in, AND a spice rack to help me make it delicious. After cooking it we're going to need some dishes and utensils with which to eat it. Although I did spend a couple years in college eating all my meals on the floor, it sucked, so now I realize that a table and some chairs are really the way to go when it comes to dining. Well, now we've already transcended the most primitive eating experience, and it's time to actually enjoy it. This means: with company, add music (ambience); without company, add television (surrogate company). Okay, so add an entertainment center and some CDs and DVDs to the list. It goes without saying that after the dining experience, we're going to need a variety of cleaning supplies for washing dishes, etc. I don't mean to be vulgar, but after the digestion experience, some books and/or magazines might be nice. Then there's the toothbrush and complimentary hygienic supplies that maintain my eating equipment. Last, but not least, I've now got to burn off the calories I just ate, which means a myriad of skateboards and soccer balls to get some exercise with.

There you have it. 300 hours and thousands of dollars later, I've managed to package nothing more than and elaborate food management system.

P.S. I know I promised to start filling you in on the missing Christmas week, only to follow with another undocumented week of adventures. I'll pick up filling in those gaps next time. What can I say... moving across the country while preparing to spend a season on the other side of the world is time consuming!