pjrvs — the blog of paul jarvis

a year without consumption

i resolve to not purchase anything in 2012, except for necessary consumables (like food, hygiene products, gas for my vehicle). what i instead want to spend my money (and more importantly my time) on is experiences – travel, connecting, interacting – basically i want to be doing more and buying less.

why? because i want to – a) test my hypothesis that stuff has no co-relation to my happiness, b) see if possessions really are tethers, and c) challenge my day-to-day will power and see how it stacks up against high-level values i think i have (in regards to thinking my consumerist tendencies, on a lot of levels, are more harmful than good).

the rules. i’ve never been one for these, but i figured some ground rules will help with clarity – both for myself and those curious about this endeavour.

1. “necessary consumables” are things that are needed to be purchased often in order for me to live healthily. like groceries, tooth paste, soap (laundry, dishes, body washing), etc. to this end, i will keep at trying to eat as close to an entirely whole food (and obviously 100% plant-based) diet as possible.
2. travel is a priority for me, specifically road-tripping, so i’m going to include gas and car maintenance as a necessary consumable. i have an airstream that i plan on using a lot in 2012, so it’s necessary (to me) to travel – so i can consume more experiences. it should be noted it’s a tiny RV being pulled by a fuel-efficient clean diesel compact car (a VW golf).
3. replacing necessary items will possibly happen – like if the one pair of pants i own tears or the car breaks down. but only replacing items like this if it’s absolutely necessary and after careful deliberation. caveat: if i do buy something, i will document it.
4. actively reducing items i have already purchased by donating, selling or gifting. i’ve already spent a lot of 2011 getting down to having only items i feel are completely required to live the way i feel is healthy, but i know i can do better.

i don’t feel this is an exercise in being deprived of things (ok, maybe i do a little bit), i just want to move past the feeling like i need to keep buying things, owning things, and having things to be fulfilled. the real goal is to reduce worthless items, while increasing things like experiences, self-improvement and happiness.

after the next 365 days, i hope that this experiment will help me more intelligently question things i am thinking about consuming in the future. i have no desire to give up all my worldly possessions, but i do think there’s a good balance between that and where i am now.

so let’s see how this goes... and if you’d like to talk about it, hit me up on twitter.

update: unconsuming judgement.

i’m giving up buying stuff for a year – pjrvs.com/unconsume/

— paul jarvis (@pjrvsWP) December 28, 2011

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