2024 Book of Answers The book "Breaking Away" is a book on family life created by Eiko Yamashita, a Japanese miscellaneous goods management consultant. The book mainly expounds the concept of "renunciation", that is, "renunciation" means not buying or collecting unwanted things, "renunciation" is equivalent to disposing of useless things piled up at home, and "leaving" is equivalent to abandoning the obsession with material things, so as to put oneself in a spacious, comfortable, and free space. The book further describes the specific process of how to achieve renunciation, including from the thinking mode of renunciation, to the comprehension of the idea of renunciation, and then to the practical method of real renunciation. At the same time, the importance of simplifying life, reducing unnecessary things and low-quality social interaction is also emphasized to improve well-being. Overall, the main purpose of the book is to encourage people to examine their relationship with objects, and to make life simpler, more comfortable, and more free by reducing and organizing things. "Breaking Away", this book reveals the transformative power of life contained in daily storage and organization. Today, we're going to dive into why we should renounce and the dilemmas that people who don't know how to renounce may face.
First of all, we need to understand a basic premise of renunciation: modern people live in an age of extreme material abundance. This means that the supply of materials has far exceeded our needs. Recall that a few decades ago, many people were facing food shortages, but now, we are more concerned with the quality and taste of food. Similarly, in home life, the simple kitchenware in the past has evolved into a variety of sets, and businesses have continued to launch various ** activities, resulting in a surplus of material in many families.
However, many families are not aware of the problem of material excess. When asked how much clothing they have at home, most people may not be able to answer right away, but when asked how much money they have, the answer is often blurted out. This just illustrates people's different attitudes towards material things and money: more vague and casual towards material things, while more serious and precise about money. In fact, material things are also bought with money, but people often enjoy the pleasure of buying and ignore the process of using the object.
Eiko Yamashita explains this phenomenon as "material axis" thinking. This means that people often make purchasing decisions based not on the necessity of an item, but on whether it is useful or not. For example, a wife asks her husband to buy a treadmill, and although the husband thinks that outdoor running is enough, the wife insists that the treadmill is more convenient. The wife in this example exemplifies the materialistic axis thinking, where she focuses too much on the potential use of objects and neglects the actual needs and values.
This materialistic mindset has led to two main tendencies of modern people: on the one hand, they are overly possessive of what they do not have, reluctant to discard what they have; On the other hand, this life of material excess, while it brings short-term satisfaction, also brings many negative effects. First of all, it creates a waste of resources and pressure on the environment. Even if the material waste by each person may seem insignificant, when this waste accumulates, it can cause a huge burden on society and the environment. Secondly, material overabundance also exacerbates people's anxiety and stress. In order to maintain this high-consumption lifestyle, some people have to endure tremendous financial pressure and even borrow money to satisfy their spending desires. At the same time, after buying too many items, many people will feel regret and chagrin and become overly dependent on material things.
However, people who live in an environment of material excess, often struggle to extricate themselves. They are accustomed to measuring the meaning and value of life by material things, believing that only by having more material things can they prove their worth. But in reality, this notion makes them lose sight of the essence of life and true happiness. On the contrary, those who are able to look at material things rationally are more able to focus on their inner needs and pursue a truly worthwhile life.
In Yamashita's view, nostalgia for the things around her is not a vice. She divides these people into three types: escapism, attachment to the past, and worry about the future. Escapist people often ignore the importance of tidying up their homes because they are busy with work; People who cling to the past cherish the memories of the past too much and find it difficult to let go of things; People who are anxious about the future tend to overstock items that they may need in the future. However, regardless of the type of person, it is necessary to realize that material things are not the whole of life, but should be seen as an aid to life.
Therefore, renunciation is not only a material attitude, but also a philosophy of life. It reflects the relationship between the inner world of man and the external material world. In modern society, we have the freedom to access material things, but we should also learn to let go. Let some objects leave our lives and go where they should be, so that we can lighten the burden and make life more relaxed and easy.
So, let's summarize this section now. We discussed the current situation in which modern man lives in an environment of material excess, and the resulting materialistic axis thinking. This kind of thinking leads to the waste of goods and the stress in people's hearts. At the same time, we also introduced three types of people: escapism, attachment to the past, and worry about the future. In order to change this, we need to take the first step of courage and start a way of living away from it.