More clutter

As is normal for this time of year, in the afterglow of my annual trip to Haiti, I’m doing all sorts of reflecting.

It was my third time there, but it never fails to have a disruptive effect on my psyche.

Unpacking, I was reminded of two things: this classic standup routine from the late, great George Carlin about our obsession with “stuff,” and a similar reflection I wrote after I got back from Haiti the first time, in 2011.

Three years on, and I’ve certainly rid my life of a lot of “stuff” I just don’t need. Indeed, I came back from Haiti this year with only the clothes on my back, some toiletries and a few things made by Haitian artisans that I’ll give as Christmas gifts this year—not to mention a perspective on my life that, up to this point, has only been gleaned by spending a week with very little electricity (to say nothing of cell or Internet service), no running water, a mattress on a dirty floor and days of hard labor finished off by evenings playing soccer with street kids.

But that fire still sits smoldering, redolent of the streets of Port Au Prince. I wonder what it will finally take to douse the barely glowing embers with diesel, light a match and watch it all burn.