Yes. I think each and every person has to find his or her own balance in life, and I think a lot of people (myself pretty much included) have too much clutter in their lives - doing things they don't need to do out of habit rather than desire.
But I don't see any value in giving up pleasures for the sake of just giving up pleasures, and - except for smoking - these are not bad things in themselves. It isn't bad to keep up with the news (or do crossword puzzles) with newspapers - and as an old student of print journalism, I'd hate to see print journalism disappear, however much I may complain about the cheapening of its news with superficiality and ephemerality. (My, aren't I into the hifalutin' words tonight!)
And aren't cell phones - mostly - good things?
There are things I want to cut out of my life, and I'm thinking about them as I plan my New Year's Resolutions - something I always do with great care and glee. Things like procrastination, stress, anger, fear, laziness, indecision, being overextended and over-busy. I think I have my material pleasures pretty much where I want them - manageable and valuable to me. I hope that doesn't sound smug.
And yes, I sometimes have more library books checked out than I can manage, but it's difficult to think of reading as something I should cut down on! On the contrary, I want more time to read. Wouldn't that be nice?
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-12-28 03:44 am (UTC)But I don't see any value in giving up pleasures for the sake of just giving up pleasures, and - except for smoking - these are not bad things in themselves. It isn't bad to keep up with the news (or do crossword puzzles) with newspapers - and as an old student of print journalism, I'd hate to see print journalism disappear, however much I may complain about the cheapening of its news with superficiality and ephemerality. (My, aren't I into the hifalutin' words tonight!)
And aren't cell phones - mostly - good things?
There are things I want to cut out of my life, and I'm thinking about them as I plan my New Year's Resolutions - something I always do with great care and glee. Things like procrastination, stress, anger, fear, laziness, indecision, being overextended and over-busy. I think I have my material pleasures pretty much where I want them - manageable and valuable to me. I hope that doesn't sound smug.
And yes, I sometimes have more library books checked out than I can manage, but it's difficult to think of reading as something I should cut down on! On the contrary, I want more time to read. Wouldn't that be nice?