The Want That Got Away

We fill the hands and nurseries of our children with all manner of dolls, drums and horses, withdrawing their eyes from the plain face and...Nature, the sun and moon, the animals, the water and stones which should be their toys. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

My daughter Hannah got 100% for two papers in her exam last week. My wife and I were willing to reward her for her achievement, but we could not decide what to buy her. Hannah could not tell what she needed or what she wanted either.

Isn’t that nice? To have no knowledge of what we want? And therefore, no desire. Every material thing will seem insignificant. It would then be easier to get rid of stuff that we have been keeping and to drop the idea to buy more stuff – stuff that we thought we want.

Yes, the cliché advice is that we need to distinguish between our needs and wants, so that we budget better and contribute better to the development of our own family and the community. But it’s easier said than done, because unfortunately, there’s a fine line between need and want. A very fine line. Most of the time, we want a thing so bad we rationalize that we need it.

A wise man used to pray, “Lord, protect me from what I want”.

I used to have a similar wish – “I want nothing”. Or, “I want not to want”.

Then again, wanting nothing or wanting not to want is still a want. Tough shit!