Exactly! Sharing our experiences with other people is social in nature, while sharing about our consumer purchases just sounds like bragging and offers no real value to others.

This is true with many stories I hear or tell others over and over again about a weekend trip or a night hanging out with friends and someone said something so funny we still tease him about it or a sport I played with my friends and the camaraderie we shared and talked about or win or loss months later. Who would I talk to about a new designer shirt I bought and what would they get out of it?

That’s a great quote by Art De Vany. I think it pinpoints a root cause of unhappiness in most people – they make the mistake of thinking more stuff = more happiness. And I’m similar to you, I thrive on experiences and as a result I lead a pretty minimal lifestyle in terms of things, but I try to maximize my life experiences. Thanks for sharing 🙂

That’s interesting. Could you link to the article by chance?

I love the quote that follows below… it is pretty much the reason I named my website “Primal Prosperity” because true prosperity comes from experiences, not stuff…. for example, choosing financial freedom to have the flexibility to spend time in nature over choosing a cubicle to buy ‘stuff’. And while money is super important to be free, using it to buy useless stuff won’t bring happiness and therefore money isn’t the true measure of success and prosperity… true prosperity is living a lifestyle of your choosing… meeting your inner ‘musts’ and not societal ‘shoulds’.

“Modern life leaves our minds restless and under-utilized because we are confined, inactive, and comfortable. We cannot be satisfied with more and more, because we are evolved for another lifeway in which material goods do not matter. The result is that we are deeply unsatisfied with modern life and don’t know why.” – Art De Vany

I love the idea of buying value and quality – even though a camera is a “thing” it brings great value to your life so it’s worth the purchase. I think it’s okay to buy things as long as they bring tremendous value to your life, but unfortunately for most people their spending is more of an unconscious habit than a search for value. Thanks for the feedback and I hope you enjoy the site 🙂

Since we had our child, experiences have taken on a new meaning. We ask for museum passes and zoo memberships before toys.

As far as possessions go, we have focused on buying value and quality over things just to have them. I purchased a great camera that while it is a thing, it gives me more joy to take high quality pictures of the family. Overall, we buy less ‘things’ but what we buy we truly want and enjoy.

Thanks for sharing and I look forward to reading more old posts and the new ones!

I think that’s awesome – you’re setting a great example for them by showing them that you place more importance and meaning on experiences rather than things 🙂