[Vision2020] 100 Things

[Kenneth Marcy]

On Sunday 23 November 2008 12:58:05 keely emerinemix wrote:
> Visionaires,
>
> I recently read a review of a book describing the author's attempt to pare
> her possessions down to one hundred things.  I haven't yet read the book,
> but the idea fascinates me and I thought it would make for an interesting
> thread on my favorite community email forum.  I write more about this on my
> blog, Prevailing Winds, but for now I wonder how any of you view not just
> possessions in general, but intentionally limiting them to 100.

What is special about the number 100? What connection has it with a number of 
possessions? Why pick an arbitrary numerical limit for possession ownership?

> My kids joke that I've already hit 50 with my Bible collection and books on
> Biblical feminism -- precocious little snots, they are, but uncomfortably
> insightful -- and it's true that I'd have to seriously winnow down my
> library.  But I think it's a good exercise for me, and I hope others find
> the idea intriguing.

The idea is no more intriguing than Sheryl Crow's on-stage brainstorming ideas 
that one could save energy and help the environment by wearing recycled paper 
clothing and using only one square of toilet tissue per trip to the bathroom. 
The first person to whom she suggested the latter idea immediately rejected 
it, correctly, and so should the 100 item possession limit be rejected. One 
correctly uses enough tissue to get the job done, and one correctly owns as 
many possessions as is necessary to satisfy the owner's needs for utility 
and/or beauty in his or her life.

> I cannot, however, live without my Papaya-Infused Curl-Enhancing Spritz, so
> don't go there . . .

O.K., that's fine with me. List them if you wish, count them if you must . . .


Ken