Goodbye, Things: Learning from Fumio Sasaki

Hello, I’m Fumio Sasaki. Nice to meet you too.

Well, I’d like to introduce the content of the book I wrote. But first, let me ask you a question.

Ichi, do you believe that you can be happy once you obtain the things you desire?

I see.
By the way, have you ever thought about why having possessions makes people feel happy?

Currently, I don’t feel that way.
This is the first point, but having things doesn’t necessarily make people happy.

By the way, after you buy something they desire, do you ever feel the need for something even better after a while?

That’s right!
People don’t necessarily become happy just because they acquire things.
Even after buying something, people often find themselves wanting something new.

Actually, we are too caught up in the belief that having things equals happiness. I’ll explain the reasons for that later.

Let’s start by discussing how people are overloading with stuff and information.
In the modern era, smartphones allow us to instantly access a wealth of information.
Additionally, with online shopping, we can compare various options and purchase our favorite items.
In fact, the amount of information a person receives in a day today is equivalent to the amount of information a person living 200 years ago would receive in an entire year.

Certainly, it’s convenient, but there are significant issues.
The quantity of modern items and information is too heavy for human hardware.

First, let’s consider the modern hardware. Smartphones and computers see new models released regularly. With each upgrade, their processing power, capacity, and capabilities increase.
However, what about humans? A person born this year doesn’t have higher processing power or memory than someone born last year, right?
In other words, although about 50,000 years have passed since humans first appeared, our abilities haven’t changed significantly. Humans are operating on ancient hardware.

The hardware and memory installed in humans remain the same as they were 50,000 years ago. Our capabilities haven’t evolved much since the time when the world had much less information.

Consider this what happens if you overload an old computer with too much data?

Exactly. It’s the same for humans. The same thing is happening to modern people.

We are constantly exposed to an unimaginable amount of information and things. Due to the accumulation of unnecessary information and belongings, our memory and hard disk are reaching their limits, almost freezing. Of course, essential tasks become difficult.

Moreover, humans don’t have the luxury of getting a new model like cell phones or computers.
How do you think we can manage such heavy hardware?

Exactly. To live comfortably, humans have no choice but to reduce information and belongings to become more agile.

Let’s talk about the concept of owning things from here.
Ichi, is there something you want right now?

Right, not just Ichi, but everyone tends to desire something, wanting something better or newer.

But the truth is, we already have everything we want.

Actually, it’s not like that. What you have, Ichi, are the things that past Ichi desired.

For example, the room you currently live in – didn’t you visit a few houses and choose the one you wanted to live in?
Even the interior in your room, you selected items from a variety of options because you thought they were what you wanted, right?

Exactly. The things you own are what past you wanted.
You wouldn’t buy or sign up for things you thought you didn’t need in the first place.

People often get downcast, thinking they’re unhappy because they can’t obtain what they want or because their ideal self is distant.
But I want you to remember. Ichi, when you signed the contract for your current home, you must have been delighted to find a well-laid-out space and a room you liked. Even when choosing furniture, you probably felt excited to buy something you found appealing.

That’s a good question!
It’s indeed a mysterious thing. Now, let’s think about the reasons people want things.

To put it bluntly, we desire things because we gradually get accustomed to fulfilled wishes.
As a result of this familiarity, having those things becomes ordinary.

Ichi, you signed a contract for a room you liked, right?
But over time, didn’t you start to get a bit bored living there?

That’s because your room became routine for you, Ichi, and eventually, you felt like you were bored with this room.

Exactly. Humans inherently perceive differences as stimuli.

For instance, imagine the first time you placed a sofa in your room.
At that moment, the environment changed from not having a sofa to having one. Due to this stimulus, people feel happy.
However, as time passes after buying the sofa, you get used to the sight of the sofa, and the sense of difference diminishes.
Then, a new desire for a better sofa emerges. In other words, owning a new sofa from your current one creates a difference, and that’s why you want it.

Exactly. Through the endless loop of buying, getting accustomed, getting bored, and buying again, people continue to accumulate things. It’s to create a difference within ourselves. We keep acquiring things because we can’t be satisfied.

And there’s another reason why people desire things. Let’s talk about that from now on.

Another reason is to feel one’s own value.
This is because people appeal to themselves that they have value through the things they own.
For example, wearing a custom-tailored suit that fits perfectly, carrying a polished bag and shoes, and having an expensive-looking watch can easily convey to others that one is competent and earns a high income. Indeed, merely through the possessions one has, a strong appeal can be made.

Exactly. Everyone is trying to convey their own value by owning things.

It’s to gain recognition from others for their own value.
Because one cannot independently recognize their own value, it’s only through receiving praise from others that they can acknowledge their worth. For instance, being relied upon by colleagues at work or being told by someone of the opposite sex that you’re attractive—don’t you feel a sense of value in those moments?

Through being evaluated by others in this way, if one doesn’t feel they have value, they can’t go on living. That’s why modern individuals use the things they wear or own to appeal to their own value. They want to be perceived as more competent, so they wear better suits, or they want to be seen as trend-savvy, so they buy new products every time they’re released.

Exactly, it’s a good example of using things to communicate one’s own value.
By using things as a means to communicate one’s value rather than their functionality, it’s no wonder possessions keep accumulating.

Let’s move on to the next topic.
The discussion is about becoming a slave to possessions when you keep accumulating things.
Earlier, we talked about how possessions serve as a means to showcase one’s value. Indeed, by having things, you can quickly appeal to yourself, saying, ‘Look, I have this value.’ It’s a very straightforward way to make an impression.
Certainly, that’s true. But by constantly desiring more and more things, possessions will eventually start taking things away from you.

For instance, let’s say you want to be recognized for having better taste and decide to move to a nicer house. Then, you need to earn more money to buy new interiors. This will consume your time and energy. While wearing down various things, you end up continuously buying more. What was supposed to be a tool to showcase your value with things turns into a master-slave relationship, and eventually, you become a slave to possessions.

Exactly. If you put too much emphasis on showcasing your value with things, eventually, we will be robbed of essential elements like time and energy.
In other words, a life of continually acquiring things not only fails to bring us happiness but makes us unhappy.

To avoid that, it’s crucial to start by getting rid of accumulated possessions and taking a step back from things. This allows you to reassess your thoughts.

Now, let me explain about not comparing oneself to others when you discard things. Comparing oneself to others is a simple way to make people unhappy. Humans tend to compare the things they have with others. It could be thinking, ‘My watch is cheaper than theirs,’ or ‘I don’t live in a better house than that person.’ Things are easy to compare among people.

Exactly. As a result of such comparisons, if one’s possession appears inferior in value, it leads to feelings of inferiority. It makes people feel unhappy, thinking they might not have any value, and they end up wanting better things.

Living in such an infinite hellish cycle must be tough.

There is an easy way to liberate oneself from this act of comparing things: getting rid of possessions.
There’s no need to go through the trouble of comparing what you have with what others have.
My recommendation is to discard things and invest in experiences.

It could be starting a new hobby, going on a trip, or participating in events—anything, really. Invest in experiences. As I mentioned earlier, people get accustomed to anything they have, but experiences are something you can’t get used to.
For instance, a coat you bought for $1000 may bring initial joy, but over time, you’ll get used to it and eventually get bored.
However, a $1000 trip will be remembered as enjoyable each time you recall it. It never becomes boring as you reminisce.

Moreover, experiences are difficult to compare with others. It’s impossible to compare the enjoyment of your trip to that of a your colleague’s trip.

By letting go of things and investing in experiences, you can free yourself from the cramped life of comparing and feeling down.

Let me explain the idea of becoming more unburdened by discarding possessions.
At first, having too many things weighs you down.
Imagine moving to a new place. If you have a lot of belongings, you’ll need a spacious home to accommodate everything. This makes it challenging to choose the next place to live, and the rent will likely increase. Additionally, the preparation for the move becomes a laborious task.

On the other hand, if you have fewer possessions, it’s no problem to live in a smaller space. You can have more flexibility in your choices. Living in a more affordable home could reduce your expenses, and you might not need to earn as much as you do now. This could give you more freedom in choosing how you work. In other words, it increases the freedom in your life.

Exactly. Your life will have more options, and you’ll experience a sense of freedom and liberation.

Let me explain the idea of generating happiness through gratitude by discarding possessions.
When you dispose of items and reduce their quantity, a sense of gratitude towards what you currently have begins to sprout. This is an emotion that you might not feel when you accumulate things in your room and constantly desire new ones.

Exactly. Earlier, I mentioned the human tendency to become bored with the current situation.

Exactly.
In fact, the act of expressing gratitude prevents you from perceiving what you currently have as mundane and uninteresting. Through gratitude, you can appreciate things you’ve grown tired of, making you realize that they are not something to be taken for granted. Having a room allows you to withstand rain and wind. Having a bed lets you sleep comfortably tonight. These awarenesses tend to be gradually forgotten, but expressing gratitude helps you recall the fresh sensation. This feeling of gratitude becomes the difference. Hence, there’s no need to keep buying new things to create that difference.

Furthermore, psychological experiments have proven that the more frequently you express gratitude, the happier you are. So, by reducing possessions and cultivating gratitude, not only do you decrease material desires, but you also directly increase your happiness. If that happens, there’s no need to have more possessions than necessary.

Exactly. In a life overflowing with possessions, humans tend to lose sight of what truly matters. If you declutter your room and live with gratitude for what you have, your overall life satisfaction is bound to increase.