one:damn:page : maybe:two

What is this spiritual deficit. We live in a time of greater abundance than likely any culture in the past. Well, material abundance. And maybe that’s it. Maybe there’s a scale. Some kind of cap on the amount of everything we can contain. If a certain amount of it is material, there’s only so much left for whatever spiritual actually is. Whatever that is. It’s something. It seems to be more important. So here we are with so much all at once and we still find ourselves wanting. I always felt better when I had less stuff. But what does that have to do with anything. If I wasn’t spiritually bare, having more stuff wouldn’t sink me into a depression. It would just be a state that is, rectifiable at that. I used to wonder what a Haitian would think if they were dropped in the middle of an American Wal-Mart. I wondered if it would affect their happiness. Because the Haitians I met were happier than I am and it seemed to be somehow connected to their lack of material excess. Not sure if it allowed space for more spiritual fulfillment or maybe the lack of material distraction forces deep social connection. Maybe they’re the same thing, spirituality and social connection. Nevertheless, I wonder if the sheer experiential knowledge of the existence of a place like Wal-Mart, where they destroy what they don’t sell, could fundamentally alter a once happy individual’s concept of happy. Perhaps happiness might be replaced with injustice. Perhaps it would seem silly. I think it’s silly. But I’m also often unhappy. Not when I’m in Haiti, though. Or southeast Asia. Or Africa. Or Mexico, where there are Wal-Marts. I’m still me. But I am divorced from something. In Africa, peace of mind, I think was due to the lack of advertising. Without a constant barrage of signage, there was this peace. I wonder if Vermont is like that.