Yesterday, Stephanie Rosenblum wrote a NY Times article entitle, "But Will It Make You Happy?" In this article, the conventional wisdom that more=happiness is challenged. The article begins:
"She had so much. A two-bedroom apartment. Two cars. Enough wedding china to serve two dozen people. Yet Tammy Strobel wasn’t happy.
Working as a project manager with an investment management firm in Davis, Calif., and making about $40,000 a year, she was, as she put it, caught in the 'work-spend treadmill.' So one day she stepped off.
Inspired by books and blog entries about living simply, Ms. Strobel and her husband, Logan Smith, both 31, began donating some of their belongings to charity. As the months passed, out went stacks of sweaters, shoes, books, pots and pans, even the television after a trial separation during which it was relegated to a closet. Eventually, they got rid of their cars, too. Emboldened by a Web site that challenges consumers to live with just 100 personal items, Ms. Strobel winnowed down her wardrobe and toiletries to precisely that number."
This trend towards simplicity is one that I have noted before. What do you think about the move towards simplicity? Is God at work in this to break the hold of materialism on our culture?
