Were in love with stuff – with shopping, with acquiring, with owning, with collecting.

Lets lust after life instead.

Our obsession with stuff has become unhealthy. When we have a void in our lives, we buy things. When we have problems, we buy things. And these things are becoming more and more expensive, bigger, shinier … more wasteful.

This obsession with stuff leads to owning a lot, having a lot of clutter … and yet this stuff doesnt fill our lives with meaning.

It leads to deep debt, from buying so much, and needing bigger houses and storage spaces to contain everything. Financially, were worse off than ever, because of this obsession with stuff.

We buy things when were depressed, we buy things for others to show how much we love them … and in this way, stuff has separated us from actually dealing with our emotions, blocked us from truly connecting with others.

Lets replace that lust for stuff with a lust for life.

Some ideas:

Rediscover a passion for life. Get outside and feel nature, appreciate the beauty of the world around you. Get active, do some gardening or yardwork, play a sport, go for a walk, take a hike, go for a swim, ride a bike. Feel the life coursing through you. Breathe it in.

Give experiences as gifts, not stuff. Instead of shopping for someone come birthdays or Christmas, think of an experience you can give them instead. A date with you, doing something fun, hanging out, cooking, playing, talking, exploring. A fun time at a park or beach. Something other than everyday. An experience is much more meaningful than an object.
Connect with others. In real life. If you havent hung out with a friend recently, give him a call and go hang out. Get your kid away from the TV or video game player and take her outside to do something. Go on a date with your partner. Visit your mom or grandparents. And be present while youre with them – really listen, really be there.
Deal with your emotions. If you have a need to buy things, to shop when you are having emotional issues, be more aware of this. Then deal with the underlying emotions, rather than using shopping as a way to forget about them. If youre depressed, or anxious, or lonely, deal with those. Find solutions, figure out whats causing them. Good news: experiencing life, getting active, and connecting with others all help you deal with those emotional issues.

Disconnect your attachment to stuff. Sometimes I find myself reluctant to give something up, even if I dont really use it. And thats when I ask myself, “Why?” What is holding me back from getting rid of this possession? Sometimes, the item has an emotional connection, but then I realize that its just an object, its not the emotion or the actual source of the emotion. Then Ill take a picture of the item, upload it to my computer, and get rid of the object. I feel liberated, because Ive broken an attachment to a physical object (but saved the memory). If you are attached to an object, figure out why – its not healthy in the long run.
Realize that life, not stuff, is what matters. Objects are just objects – if you lose them, if they get stolen or destroyed … its not a big deal. Theyre just objects – not your life. Your life is the series of moments that is steaming through your consciousness right now, and how you use those moments and what you fill them with is what truly matters, not what you fill your home with. At the end of this short journey, youll look back and remember your experiences, the people you loved and who loved you back, the things you did and didnt do. Not the stuff you had.

This article was written by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits

Photo: aussiegall Flickr Creative Commons

1. Clean out your refrigerator and kitchen cupboards. Read the labels of every product in your home that you deem edible. If you cant pronounce it, or it has more ingredients than words in the bible, chances are your body isnt meant to digest it. Are there foods in your cupboards you feel guilty just looking at? Guilt is the greatest destroyer of emotional energy-therefore you dont need it, or the Snickers bar in your life. Nature provides some of the most delectable treats you could ever imagine. Head to nutritional expert David Wolfes website www.davidwolfe.com, for the low-down on one of natures most incredible gifts: raw cacao. The cacao bean is natures number one weight loss and high-energy food.

2. Clean out toxins and old waste with a cleansing detox. According to nutritional expert and Tree of Life founder, Dr Gabriel Cousens, research shows when intestinal toxemia is removed, symptoms such as fatigue, nervousness, gastrointestinal conditions, impaired nutrition, skin manifestations, endocrine disturbances, headaches, sciatica, low back pain, allergy, eye, ear, nose and throat congestion-and even cardiac irregularities-have been healed in hundreds of cases. Find out more at www.treeoflife.nu.

3. Download the Honest Food Guide from Mike Adams Naturalnews.com. This indispensable free guide was developed with you in mind, not big business. Unlike the traditional food pyramid (which is sponsored by major food corporations) youll find honest nutritional information, “not watered-down information designed to boost the sale of milk, beef and grains,” says Adams. Print out and post to your refrigerator for easy referral (and email the link to all of your friends!).

4. Make weekly trips to your local farmers market. Buying local is a great way to ensure your food is fresh, organic and free from scientific tampering. That is, anything genetically modified (genetically modified food is not as nature intended, therefore does not contain adequate nutrients and is considered by some to be unstable). The American Academy of Environmental Medicine recently issued a warning urging the public to avoid genetically modified foods. They also called for a suspension on GMOs until long-term, independent studies can prove their safety. Shopping at your local farmers market is also a way to become more connected to the food you eat, as youre buying directly from the person who put their hard work, love and energy into growing the produce. Theres also an added bonus of upping your essential Vitamin D intake as you wander (without wearing chemical-laden sunscreen!) from stall to stall. See www.localharvest.org or www.farmersmarkets.org.au to find a market near you.

5. Decrease or cease your intake of meat and dairy. Despite being told drinking milk is good for our bones and eating meat is a superior form of protein, its actually not true. Besides the fact that dairy causes iron deficiency, bloating, diarrhoea, gas and intestinal pain in most people, its consumption transfers drugs that have been administered to the animal, such as antibiotics, into the system of the person drinking it. And when you think about it, where do cows get their calcium? From the grass they eat. Leafy greens such as kale, broccoli, collards and cabbage are excellent sources of calcium-and no animals are harmed in the process, either. The same goes for meat consumption. Protein and iron is in abundance in a pure vegetarian diet. Eating meat also means youre putting antibiotics and any dis-eases from the animal directly into your own system. If you plan to move from a meat and dairy-based diet, be sure to transition into it by reducing your consumption over time. If youre unsure, seek advice from an informed wholefood nutritionist.

6. Educate yourself. By learning about the types of foods that create a healthy mind and body, you put the power back into your hands instead of big food industries whose primary interest is in creating dollars not health. A good place to start is with Dr Gabriel Cousens Conscious Eating. Also check out Don and Tyler Tolmans Conscious Lifestyler website.

7. Take a whole food cooking or raw food preparation course with friends or family. Knowing where your food came from and exactly how its prepared can not only create peace of mind, but also bring families together through creating meals together. Its also a way to meet like-minded people who are on the same path. Get Googling to find the right class for you. We love Rod Rotondis raw food classes (see www.leaforganics.com) and chef Julianos “uncook” book RAW.

Photo: Robyn Gallagher Flickr Creative Commons