Nothing's better than More?

When I was shopping in the village a couple weeks ago I ran into a woman who used to work with. She'd just returned from a trip to South America and was still adjusting. I asked her what was the weirdest thing about being back.

She said--as soon as she got back to Toronto she noticed that, though we have so much here, everyone is so stressed. Whereas in the countries she visited (I forget which ones) so many people have so little, but she found they were much more easy going.

Certainly goes with the Thoreau pieces I've been re-reading this month. He tried to figure out how little you can live with, and still enjoy life, and he found it to be very little. I'm not trying to imply that poor people are happy cause they're poor--I have no personal experience of poverty. But I think I can say with confidence that, your basic needs having been met (regularly), there is no direct correlation between Money and Pleasure. (Which according to this book, is backed up by studies.) And maybe it's in part because of what my ex-coworker noticed... that we stress out over everything. What's the point in having more, if you just worry more?

Local chemist *answer guy* Dr Joe Schwarcz made a similar point in a recent article addressing the "toxic shower curtain" scare:

"While most of the scares about living in a "chemical soup" are exaggerated, the stress they cause is real. People have become so scared of dying they forget about living. And if worrying about trace amounts of chemicals being released from shower curtains makes news, then living today is pretty good. So relax."

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Reminds me of this tongue-in-cheek Stephen Sondheim song:

I got rhythm, music too, just as much as before
Got my guy and my sky of blue
Now, however, I own the view
More is better than nothing--true
But nothing's better than MORE MORE MORE
Nothing's better than more.