Thoreau and I like theoretical shopping. Henry liked to buy farms, in his own words, “In imagination I have bought all the farms in succession, for all were to be bought, and I knew their price. I walked over each farmer’s premises, tasted his wild apples, discoursed on husbandry with him, took his farm at his price, at any price, mortgaging it to him in my mind; even put a higher price on it — took everything but a deed of it — took his word for his deed, for I dearly love to talk — cultivated it, and him too to some extent, I trust, and withdrew when I had enjoyed it long enough, leaving him to carry it on. My imagination carried me so far that I even had the refusal of several farms — the refusal was all I wanted — but I never got my fingers burned by actual possession.” (Walden, Ch 2: Where I Lived and What I Lived For). For H.D. believed, “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things
which he can afford to let alone.”
Although I’m not ready to move into my lakeside cabin, I do believe we can all get by with a little less (especially if we love what we do get a little more.) One tool to aid this endeavor is the the Amazon Universal Wish List. This splendid apparatus allows you to add every imaginable desire, from any website, to a central cart. Not only does this allow you to cool the passions of a temporary, but unnecessary desire, but it also allows you to keep track of items until their price and personal value match.
“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” There’s nothing better than a little more of that.
