If your takeaway from this mission becomes that “I should go for a walk in nature whenever I am feeling exhausted” then you got the whole idea wrong. Yes, our exhaustion can be a red flag that we badly need to walk in the open, but ideally walking should become a part of the routine, proactively keeping us reflective, creative, and far from stress.

Walking in nature is an experience that reconnects us with ourselves. It puts existence in perspective, how all forms of life come together in the circle of life. From fruits to fungus, animals to birds, one life form gives way to another. The decaying matter on the forest floor becomes the trees of tomorrow, only to come back to the soil. This humbling experience breaks our material illusions and makes us one with life.

And this brings us to the long-standing duel of experience vs material things: what is the best way to spend money?

The Age-Old Debate

The impact of experience on personality is unquestionable. The exploration of the unknown, the recollection of the known, everything plays a part in our expansion. Yes, we may not remember the exact details of every experience, as memories morph over time, but their lessons integrate as a part of our being.

Be it walking on a beach, with the sun setting into the ocean, inducing feelings we never knew existed or reading a book, absorbing the perspective of life as lived by the author, every experience transforms us into a new person, leaving us changed forever. How can spending on material possessions even compare?

When it comes to material things, the common argument is that while no one can deny the importance of basic needs like clothes, house, and food, everything else just comes at a psychological cost, trapping you into lifestyle inflation, always wanting more, and leaving you forever dissatisfied.

The Monkey With a Knife

In whose hands would you prefer a knife – a monkey or a chef?

You see, a knife is just a tool, and its meaning depends on who holds it. The result can vary from harm to delicious food. Similarly, the experience vs material things debate is less about its subjects themselves, and more about the intent of people.

Material things are not bad, but we make them so. The experience of living in a home with modern amenities is objectively better than living in a hut with a leaking roof in the rains but watch your intent. If you are buying a new home or gadget to feel good about yourself or superior to others, there is no end.

For that matter, even experiences can be ruined by people who define their value by places they have visited, turning it into a rat race. They forget that just like we cannot buy everything in the world, we cannot experience everything in the world.

You see, it boils down to the human desire to define “self” with an identity. Once we start defining ourselves by our possessions or experiences, there is no peace to be found. We feel scarcity, forever. For a person who feels incomplete, no number of experiences or possessions can bring satisfaction. How can it come from outside when bliss is an internal job?

The Last Breath

In the end, experiences and objects act like mirrors. As you interact with them, they reflect who you are. Whether you’re at peace or not, it will all reflect in your interactions.

So, the balance is yours to find. In general, experiences will enrich your life and enhance your social relations in the long term more than material things, but material things can make the daily experience of life better. In Kosma, we consider nothing wrong with spending on the best vacation or fastest car but do not do so to feel good or superior to others, as there will always be something better to make you feel bad.

When you realize that both possessions and experiences will be left behind when your breath becomes air, you stop seeking and start living. You become present. In the words of Alan Watts, “It is only when there is no goal and no rush that the human senses are fully open to receive the world.”

Food for thought: Aren’t material things and experience two sides of the same coin. Where there is an experience, there is a material facilitating it and vice versa. What do you think?