What makes you happy?

I saw today an article in the NY Times which was forwarded to me by my friend Corina which I thought was perfect for the times that we live in.


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----

CONTINUES HERE


If you read the article you will see other stories of people who had a gong hit them that said, "DONG! I don't have to live this way anymore. By cutting back and living less I have more life.

If there was ever a calling card for Pluto's journey through Capricorn it would be this article and the like. For a few years I have had the Story of Stuff as a signature to my emails. If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend it and I think you will also feel the pull of Pluto.

STORY OF STUFF

The under riding feeling that we are being played every time we are compelled to purchase something has been haunting me for awhile. Once I saw Story of Stuff (right around Pluto's initial move into Cap) I knew---"Oh, that's what I've been feeling!"

Last week it was announced that the GNP went down a couple of percentage points which perhaps reflects this austere period we are experiencing. I am sure economic forecasters would suggest people are buying less because they have less money. Sure, maybe. But I would also venture a guess that even if people did find themselves will fuller coffers they would not be as inclined to race out and buy more stuff. Kind of like after Major League Baseball strike a few years ago. Fans went away and then when the strike was over not as many fans returned. Not out of spite but more from a place of "Wow, I survived without baseball perfectly fine, I don't need it as much as I used to need it." And with that their numbers were lower.

I gotta wonder if the cardinal squares and crosses that we are experiencing now and with Pluto being the center of it all, if this summer will turn out to be the summer of "Less than" and happy for it.