More on small houses and stuff

I like snow, but I usually prefer to enjoy it from the the cozy comfort of my living room, near the fireplace.

I've had plenty of opportunity to do that this past week, as the lake effect snow machine has been mostly stuck in the "on" position. The dog loves it.  (Maybe not as much as these guys.)  I like my winter outings in small doses. So this is a great time for reading, crafting, and cooking. 

I've been reading a fascinating book called Little House on a Small Planet and it's helping me navigate my ponderings on how much living space we actually require.  

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why we Americans think we need so much space that we seldom use and then proceed to fill it up with stuff we don't need?

How many plans for home improvements and modifications have been scrapped because, although they are perfectly suited to our tastes and purposes, are not statistically desirable enough to the majority of potential home buyers in the event we want to sell the house?

When did our residences as investments and symbols of our social status supersede the concept of our houses as our homes?  And must we be so lemming-like in embracing this dysfunctional groupthink?


Once you start to ask these questions, the dominos start falling.   I'm no advocate of asceticism, I think design and art and ornamentation are important expressions of who we are and how we see the world.  But, those things come from within ourselves, not from House Beautiful and HGTV. 

It's liberating when you can let go of how things should be, because that's what "people like us" do, and we won't be held in high esteem if we are too unconventional or, God forbid, unfashionable.

WOW. Maybe it's time to throw out the magazines and turn off the TV and find ourselves. We get this one, short life and we allow other people so much control over it.

If that sounds like an anti-community sentiment, it isn't. Communities of strength are voluntary, not coercive.