Spirituality

[250]

I dont freaking get it. what the hell is wrong with wanting a good car? a cellaphone? a nice house?? huh?

I dont own any of those, but I honestly wish I do. and I work for them. I alos know the importance of limiting material pursing and balancing it with time spend on friends, family etc etc

what the hell is wrong with even 'talking' about it? no, I dont talk abt it, but I certainly have freaking no problems with people who do. in fatc, my two best friends love to talk about cars. whats wrong with that? should I kill them?? are they evil? oh yeah, their life is empty. goddamn no.

ok, back to your girlfriend. you know, it is up to whoever wants the higher standard to achieve. say, if both of you want to live comfortably, while your girl wants to live luxury. then it is both your duty to achieve "comfort" then it is her job to make it "luxury" it is then out of your charity that you contribute more effort on the living issue.

this is my input

[Grand-Ranger]

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Originally posted by 250:
I dont freaking get it. what the hell is wrong with wanting a good car? a cellaphone? a nice house?? huh?

I dont own any of those, but I honestly wish I do. and I work for them. I alos know the importance of limiting material pursing and balancing it with time spend on friends, family etc etc

what the hell is wrong with even 'talking' about it? no, I dont talk abt it, but I certainly have freaking no problems with people who do. in fatc, my two best friends love to talk about cars. whats wrong with that? should I kill them?? are they evil? oh yeah, their life is empty. goddamn no.

ok, back to your girlfriend. you know, it is up to whoever wants the higher standard to achieve. say, if both of you want to live comfortably, while your girl wants to live luxury. then it is both your duty to achieve "comfort" then it is her job to make it "luxury" it is then out of your charity that you contribute more effort on the living issue.

this is my input

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Well, I dont know if this is everyone veiws, but I find people that base there life around having whats "cool" and "up to date" and "in-style" are fake.

In 3 years they will not have nothing to do with the "cool new, music star wore them at the grammy last night" shrit they bought last night.

Oh course, We (Or I, and I am sure most other people) take them to extremes and exagerate it too much. And they do us the same way, they think we are dull, boring, dorks.

I may be a dork, but I am certantly not dull and boring!

Dont get me wrong, I like nice things. We just bought a new car a month or so ago..

But I dont strive to get those things, and I wont die if I dont get them.And I dont get things just to be "cool".

I place My religon, My family, and friends way above any thing I can buy.

[250]

I place my family, friends above everything else as well. but I like good things, and I think there are people with both "spiritual" and cool style and not fake. so what? my uncle is one of those people. I think him very cool. whats wrong with that?

it is like a second choice thing... **sniff** nothing wrong with it

[Melusine]

250, nobody said it was wrong to want a nice house and some luxury items! In fact, I certainly hope that I will have at least some manner of financial security later, you know, that I don't have to buy the cheapest margarine in the supermarket but can take real butter instead?
I think the point Arledrian was making is that there are some teens who care more for material stuff than spiritual stuff. For example, a girl who'd rather go out with guy A because he has a bigger car than guy B, even if guy B is actually a lot nicer.
Of course you're right that everybody needs materialistic goods to some extent, and almost everybody indulges themselves in certain luxury items (me, my books; Cheetah, her organic food or her workshops, etc), but that isn't really a problem unless yo become obsessed by money and things that cost money.

An anecdote:
My younger sister and I are three years apart in age. When I was in first grade, brand names were immensely important, and if you didn't wear Nike shoes, a Levi's 501 and a certain sweater, you honestly, seriously would be bullied, ridiculed, outcast. They wouldn't really admit that it was because you didn't wear brand names, but they would admit that they didn't like your clothing (I think you can guess on which side I, as the child of a divorced mother, was on... [img]smile.gif[/img] ). Anyway, so I was bullied and shunned in the first two years I went to school and I even though it never was taken to extremes, it wasn't exactly nice either.
Now, when my sister reached the age to go to first grade, she couldn't believe that my stories were true! In her age group, brand names were totally ignored, and people that thought them important were even laughed at! While there was a certain, loose, dress code, she never experienced any of the problems that I had had. By the time I was in fourth grade, luckily the trend had passed and I went from being bullied to being quite popular. The brand name trend hasn't returned so far, and when I look at kids they all wear different styles and seem to be able to wear whatever they like.
It is possible that, like Moni said, there is a new generation that puts less value in material stuff now...

[250]

unddy that... thanks Melusine, I am just looking for trouble, thats all

[Neb]

I too wouldn't mind a nice house and a lot of material things, but I wouldn't do that much to have them, I'd much rather have true friends and other such non-material things, my favorite material thing would have to be books though, nothing like books to change the way you view the world......

[Epona]

Know what you mean. I'm not against material things, but there are things in life more important. I expect I could do a job where I earn a lot more money, but I am not interested if if means I would have to work long hours and be really keen about the company I worked for etc. Not to say that I'm a nightmare employee, I'm not that bad, but it is not what is really important to me. My wages are to keep a roof over my head and buy organic butter instead of margarine full of preservatives (I'm with both SC and Melusine respectively on this one)

I like to have nice stuff though, but not in terms of furniture, cars or designer clothes. The little bit of expendable income that I have goes on enjoyment - books, PC games, cinema, theatre, good food, things I can enjoy the experience of rather than things to look nice or follow a trend.
I'm beginning to think my quality of life would be better if I cut the hours I work and had less money even though I don't have much right now, because the leisure time and feeling of freedom is more important to me. I don't have a car, I live in a council block, I don't have expensive clothes - my fridge is better stocked than my wardrobe

[*\Conan/*]

What does anyone have that they havent been given?

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Originally posted by Arledrian:
I often hear people my age talking about the latest cell phones, or the fastest cars, or the newest clothes fashions.... and I think 'Jesus, you're pathetic...'

I consider myself to be one of the last of a dying breed. I'm probably the most unmaterialistic person in the world. I care nothing for material things and it sickens me to hear people talk about such things non stop. I sometimes feel like I'm the only person in the world, the only one who thinks differently to people like this. I can't believe that they have so little in their lives, that their thoughts are dominated by cars and cell phones. It frustrates me so much, makes me think 'you're an intelligent human being, and this is all you have between your ears?'.

I sometimes wonder whether I am the only one who believes in spirituality. The first thing I try to establish with someone is a kind of inner bond, and if I can't establish any form of link, I know he/she isn't suited to me. This is worrying me a lot lately, as my girlfriend doesn't understand any of this, she thinks I'm talking Greek when I start about it. She's very two dimensional, materialistic and unimaginative. I honestly love her to death, I couldn't ever be without her, but I feel so distant from her where matters like this are concerned.

Does anyone ever feel the same sometimes?

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If she is materialistic then Id say she isnt the one for you....just from your comments.....but personally I think either extreme is ludicrous. My opinion is that there is nothing wrong with material items, its how you let them affect you that counts, you don't need to eschew all things material to be spiritual. If you want to be an un-balanced, extremist to either side then you are automaticly setting yoruself up for isolationism, lonelyness and will never truely fit anywhere....in my opinion that does not make you a better person...just a misfit.

My 2 cents....

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Originally posted by Silver Cheetah:
I'm not particularly materialistic either. No car, no cell phone, no TV, no stereo (I have an old ghetto blaster [img]smile.gif[/img] ) second hand computers (people seem to give them to me... great!) furniture all second hand, (you can still make things look great - no need to spend much money!) charity shop clothes, mainly.... What do I spend money on - well, organic food is expensive! I also do quite a lot of personal growth/development workshops, often dance based, and I love to travel, which also costs. I'd rather pay for real life experiences, than 'things'.

I think that people who spend loads on big name brands are mad! All the things are the same, just commodities produced in some third world factory for a dollar each production costs, just some have fancier packaging and are advertised cleverly and expensively, and thus end up costing twice, four times, even ten times as much as the non branded goods.

Trainer with a swoosh, or trainer without a swoosh? I'll go for the latter every time. Actually, I wouldn't wear branded clothes if you paid me. I've always thought that was weird - like you pay a fortune for something, just to advertise Tommy Hilfiger or Nike on your chest. Why? You're paying *them* to advertise *them*. Like I said, the whole thing is bonkers.

On the spiritual side - well. Anyone like to tell me their definition of spirituality? It's something that no-one seems to agree on.... And rightly so, in my opinion. Your connection with the divine (whatever you call it, god, the source, the universe, the all that is, the goddess etc etc) is uniquely personal to you, and everyone's perception and experience of it is different.

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SC I agree to an extent with you [img]smile.gif[/img] but there are reasons to spend more for a "Name Brand" in some areas, there ARE quality issues. Personally I buy the best that I can afford, while researching the quality..say for example those "swoosh" brand running shoes. I could pay 1/4 as much for a generic nameless brand at Payless Shoes, but I would not get 1/4 the milage out of them...Id be lucky if they lasted a couple of weeks. Whereas when I pay for quality brand I know Ill have them a year or more...same goes for hiking equipment...would you trust your life to a second hand or the cheapest rope while rock climbing? On the other hand....if quality isn't an issue then sure by all means save the $$$ for those real life adventures [img]smile.gif[/img] Personally I don't give a hoot about the brand...as far as talking to others about how much I spent and stuff...but if someone asked what kind of gear they should get...then Id mention the brands...I think the spiritual vs material issue is being misstated here a bit..what I seem to see is a dislike for bragging about money and brand recognition vs not caring about brand. I just don't see Material and spiritual as being mutually exclusive concepts... But hey I only know what works for me...and we all know there are many different kinds of people.

Ohh and another personal quality issue for me..when I buy the non-brand Jeans at wal-mart they wear out after just a couple of trips on the trail, Ill have holes in the rump or knees, whereas if I buy Lee or Levi's they seem to last much much longer.

To me money is just a tool, I buy the best QUALITY I can afford, and then stretch the item untill it just can't be stretched any more...then I start the cycle over [img]smile.gif[/img] (I do have to say though my personal dating life seems to keep running me into women who are only interested in the size of the bank account and not the person...which really irks me)..of course am I any better??? I let a persons size and health/fitness affect my attractions...so isnt it all one sort of bigotry or another?)

Well that rambled on long enough...sorry for the length.