07 July 2017

Your House Owns You



If you're expecting an article about property legality or something like that then you are going to be disappointed. This is more of a philosophical piece, so bear with me. It is more about the perspectives we have towards ownership of materials and the mindset we have towards success. It might also seem a bit unstructured and that is because I'm writing this at the spur of the moment. I have intended for this post to be longer and touch more on feminism and filial piety but I ran out of time so I will probably touch on it in another post.

When you really think about it, society has thought us that success is about having either fame or fortune or both. It is as if happiness can only be achieved when we are able to, as nonsensically put forth by the infamous Robert Kiyosaki, get out of the rat race. If you have played his popular board game, Cashflow 101, let me tell you something that is at the back of your mind, and this is true for real life and for the board game as well, the rat race doesn't end. It just gets bigger. You will just have bigger things to worry about.

Once you've top a mountain, there are just other mountains to climb. The more things you own, the more things you have to be insecure about. What do you think will happen once you've gotten "out" of the rat race? You would be eternally happy? Eternal happiness is the pot of gold at the end of rainbow. The cake is a lie. Would you loose your self worth if someone took everything you own? The things that you truly own and no one could steal them from you are the skills that you, the experiences that you've made, the connections with people around you.

Still not convinced? Don't take it from me then. Take it from these famous people:


The list goes on, it is not just limited to these well known, "successful" people. So if wealth and glory is not the answer then what is? Honestly, I don't know the answer to that question but I some have suggestions:-

Work on yourself -  listen to yourself and learn more about that person in the mirror. Throw away this term from your Chinese vocabulary: 幸福 - it doesn't exist and the term is quite sexist... Perhaps, this is a can of worms that I best leave for another day and so I digress.

Work on your relationships - be more emphatic. Relationships are tough to maintained. This is kind of hard for me as well due to my introverted nature but I think it's the right path to pursue. If you are more inclined towards a scientific reasoning then perhaps this research could sway you: 


I have seen this mindset coming from a lot of my friends and family. Everyone is pursuing to get "out" of the rat race, to retire at an early age, to "invest" in properties. You work and stress yourself out in order to make payments for these properties that will supposedly make you successful. Hence, here's a question I leave it for you to answer because only you can answer it. Does your house own you or do you own your house?