What Would You Do? | Recognizing the Difference between More and Less

Last weekend I took a short walk through my neighborhood, and I noticed a $5 bill in the middle of the street. Nobody was around, but I thought to myself, “It is not mine, and I do not need it.”

Quite the opposite of the old adage of ‘Finders keepers, losers weepers’.

As I continued my stroll, just a few yards more, I spotted a $1 coin and considered how strange it was that someone kept dropping their money everywhere. I again had the idea about how I did not need it.

Then it came to my attention the importance between want and need. It can correlate with the difference between more and less.

As easy as it would have been for me to collect the money in the street unnoticed, I realized that if I picked up something that was not mine, I may ignite some unwanted feelings with it. Perhaps guilt would surface about it not being rightfully mine.

Anyway, there are of course morals and my conscious helped me pass by it without temptation.

However, given different circumstances, who knows if I would have taken the cash.

I guess it comes down to the minimalist life life I have created. I have spent the past 2 ½ years living out of two suitcases.

When I was 21 years old, I watched The Story of Stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM

This video is probably the most valuable 20 minutes of my young adult life, because Annie Leonard talks about the vicious cycle of consumerism and how less is actually more. If we want to create a better world, then we need to start by having and buying less.

Things like the ‘Tiny House Movement’ followed shortly after this video was published. The idea sprouted back in 2009, and today more and more people are becoming aware of the need to recycle and consume less.

Personally, I was inspired to become more self-sustainable. I signed up for an Intensive Organic Gardening class, and participated in an Introduction to Permaculture workshop. I hope to put this knowledge to use and contribute to a more natural way of life.

I hope other people jump on board too. We only have one earth!