Writings: Enough, with Derek Sivers

Let me be the 101st parrot.

Regular Brother Ian readers (that would be you, because you’re here, hey) know that the editorial staff and I are huge Derek Sivers fans. I was just telling this little story to a young monk yesterday. It was a nice touch when I told him two other stories, and asked if he would like to hear another and he smiled, “No, that’s enough.”

Here’s Derek’s little essay:

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You Have Enough, by Derek SIvers

I love my Kindle and E71 but you won’t hear me rave about them. I don’t want you to want them.

Companies spend a fortune begging you to want their stuff. I won’t add to that noise.

Retail therapy is the worst kind.

I’d like to get 100 parrots and teach them to say “It won’t make you happy!” – then let them loose in shopping malls, big electronics stores, and car lots.

Then, when people are considering spending thousands of dollars on a giant TV, or going deeply in debt with a new car, a surprising squawk might shock them back to their senses.

The quickest way to double your income is to halve your expenses. Any study of happiness will tell you it’s best to actively appreciate what you’ve got.

I feel a responsibility with my PA system of blog, Twitter, and Facebook to only put helpful thoughts into the world.

So, no product raves here. You already have more than you need.

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At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut tells his friend, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history.

Heller said, “Yes, but I have something he will never have: Enough.”