Blind people have more sensitive hearing.
When you close your eyes and drink wine, you can taste more.
It would seem that our senses attenuate each other.
How about our sensitivity in relationships? I had a moment of realization a few weeks back. I realised that the feeling of owning goods attenuated my sense of relationship, to some small extent. I've known for a while that I feel better, owning less. But now that we're in Prague for a couple of months, with the bare minimum of 'stuff,' I think Irena and I are ever so slightly more sensitive to each other because we're not bothered about 'stuff.' We're renting a very nice two bedroom furnished apartment, with a great view of the Autumn woods, just a few minutes tram ride from beautiful Prague. We have our laptops, two suitcases of clothes, and that's it. IT FEELS GREAT! All we have to care about, is each other.
Studies on happiness around the world agree that the people in countries like Nigeria, El Salvador and Colombia are happier than people in the USA and UK. Why? I'd surmise, partly because they don't have so much 'stuff'' and they focus more on their family and community. They can generally rely less on their governments and personal financial wealth to support them, so they focus more on the family, partly as a matter of survival. Their very existences depend on having a close support network in many cases and as a (very significant) side benefit of them spending more time with family and friends, and less time pawing over their stuff, they're happier.
Just a thought. - Mark :-)
When you close your eyes and drink wine, you can taste more.
It would seem that our senses attenuate each other.
How about our sensitivity in relationships? I had a moment of realization a few weeks back. I realised that the feeling of owning goods attenuated my sense of relationship, to some small extent. I've known for a while that I feel better, owning less. But now that we're in Prague for a couple of months, with the bare minimum of 'stuff,' I think Irena and I are ever so slightly more sensitive to each other because we're not bothered about 'stuff.' We're renting a very nice two bedroom furnished apartment, with a great view of the Autumn woods, just a few minutes tram ride from beautiful Prague. We have our laptops, two suitcases of clothes, and that's it. IT FEELS GREAT! All we have to care about, is each other.
Here's the view from our window, showing the first snowfall of the season. It was just cold enough for snow, but not cold enough to settle at all.
Studies on happiness around the world agree that the people in countries like Nigeria, El Salvador and Colombia are happier than people in the USA and UK. Why? I'd surmise, partly because they don't have so much 'stuff'' and they focus more on their family and community. They can generally rely less on their governments and personal financial wealth to support them, so they focus more on the family, partly as a matter of survival. Their very existences depend on having a close support network in many cases and as a (very significant) side benefit of them spending more time with family and friends, and less time pawing over their stuff, they're happier.
Just a thought. - Mark :-)
