Who is the Real One Percent?
How cool would it be if I didn't immediately answer this question and just kept you guessing for years and years, leading you on some epic journey of self-discovery through blog posts only to find that you knew the answer all along? Yeah, no. I'm not that cool nor do I have the foresight to plan all that out. Nonetheless, I have some thoughts that I'd like to share. Perhaps they'll ring a bell for you.
We all know "The 1%" - high-profile billionaires who have the kind of dough to make your life savings look like a crumb. If I told you right now that I could gift you enough money to enter "The 1%," would you take it? Of course you would! If you said 'no,' you're either not being honest with yourself or have figured out the key to life that I must know immediately. Proceed accordingly.
Let's be honest: most people would take the money, and not because they're greedy and materialistic but because money has the ability to solve many of our day-to-day problems. Haven't had time to clean the bathroom sink? Hire a cleaning service! Trying to eat healthy foods but you don’t know how to cook? Place an ad for a personal chef! Bickering with your partner a lot lately? Book that much-needed vacation! Global warming got you done? Send your donation to support solar energy
today!
Listen, I get it, money has the potential to solve a lot of the problems that are
currently plaguing us. As my mom always used to tell me that my grandfather used to tell her that he had heard somewhere unknown: "Money may not buy happiness but it can sure make sure you suffer in comfort."
Perhaps, however, the pursuit of money and things it can buy are causing more problems than they're solving. In fact, I'll take it a step further and say: maybe our continual quest to acquire more money is the cause of our aforementioned problems. Before you call me crazy, I have two things to say: (1) I definitely am and (2) cool your jets. I'm not proposing you throw away your treasured beanie baby collection and cut off your Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Prime memberships to go live off the land Thoreau-style. I am, however, proposing that you (and I) re-evaluate what contributes to the real richness of our lives.
Maybe we wouldn't need to hire a cleaning service, if we downsized the house to have a comfortable two bathrooms instead of four. Rather than hiring a chef to cook our healthy foods, maybe we've filled our days to the brim so much that we don't have time to learn how to do one of the most basic human functions. Is there a possibility that you and your partner are bickering over the financial stress of needing to maintain a certain lifestyle? What if we could have prevented a small part of the current environmental issues if we had cut our workweek to four days so that we had 1 day less of polluting drives? It's not as crazy as you think.
I believe that so much of what we deem to be "necessary" to live, truly is not. I've come to notice many of those unnecessary pieces are deeply tied to social constructs regarding what we all 'should' be, do, and have. A friend once told me she wished she could move further into the city because she loved the 'vibe' there. I told her, "do it," and was immediately met with a laughing snort. She said the rent was insane (which it is) and she wouldn't be able to move out of her currently furnished apartment because she'd have to buy all new furniture. It dawned on me how much extra all that furniture would cost so I shut my mouth about the idea. Driving home later that night, however, I thought 'how much furniture do you really need?' I mean, think about it. Do I have to have four chairs if I'm not one to host get-togethers? Who told me I need four chairs? Why do I think it's necessary to have a couch and a loveseat? Why are there so many required butt-resting spots for my apartment to be considered a home?
Some of those constructs may have worked in the past or are currently working for others, but they're not working for me. I believe that the Real 1% comprises of those who have figured out how to continually increase the richness of their lives through eliminating the unnecessary to make room for joy. I aim to be and know those people.
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