The Tiny House Thing

Last updated on: June 18, 2015 at 9:34 am by Anne Kennedy

The Tiny House Thing 2015-06-18T09:34:32-04:00 Anne Kennedy

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I had the pleasure of lying around most of the afternoon, yesterday, watching exactly the kind of television I would watch all the time if I were allowed to lie around watching TV, and that is stuff about houses, mostly where people go around looking for new houses to buy with their piles of money. I love this kind of TV because it's basically consequence free judgement. You can lie back in total comfort and judge other people without them ever having to know about it. You can say things like, “well, they clearly picked the wrong house to buy with their pile of money” without ever having to meet and know them. I mean, I could never say that to someone for real. “You totally bought the wrong house.” What a terrible thing to say. But to be allowed to think it for like four hours, really a pleasant way to spend the day.

So anyway, the new thing is Tiny Houses. I guess I knew this because I've been really wanting a tiny house and I do have a penchant for accidentally really really wanting whatever is percolating in the cultural air. So I ended up naming my two oldest children the most popular names those years even though I had carefully avoided looking at lists of popular names just as so as to Not Do that which I actually did. So of course I've been really wanting a tiny house. Everyone, it seems, wants a tiny house.

But the desire of a Tiny House, because this is the American landscape of 2015, can no longer just be that you want to go out and get a house and move your stuff in and start ordering takeout, because, one of the trade offs, for being relieved of so much burdensome space, is to not have a stove. No, because of who we are as a society, you can't just buy a house. Your house needs to reflect something about you. Your house needs to be a statement of your personal identity, as well as being the means of the corporate joining of yourself into a community, in this case, The Tiny House Community. The number of times I heard the words Tiny House Community, well, I wish someone had handed me a pile of money every time I heard it. Once you buy or build “tiny” (see, I'm all about the lingo) you become a member of the Tiny House Community and you are welcomed, rather formally, by the TV personality, with a big smile and a hug. It's really appropriate for you to cry at this moment, and be overcome with the emotional weight of this rite of passage. From thence on you can talk about “what its like to go tiny” and all the joys and delights of “living tiny”.

I was really surprised by all the unbridled joy– broad, completely happy smiles, the tears of wonder and amazement, the statements of complete approbation, the yawning lack of anything negative to say about living in 300 square feet. As far as I can make out, there isn't anything bad about “going tiny” at all, ever. It probably says something wonderful about my own character, that I've been wishing I could rush out and buy a tiny house myself. I am probably on my way to ascending up to a morally superior plane than the rest of the population who can never and will never “go tiny”.

Except that who are we kidding. I probably won't ever be able to “go tiny”. I, in my heart, don't really believe that owning stuff is that evil. I don't have a minimalist bone in my short stubby finger. While I am probably physically suited to “go tiny” my soul chafes at the idea of participating in a fad. Now that it's an actual thing, I guess I'll go back to my other dream of owning a huge Victorian house, green, with brown seventies carpet, and seven or eight rooms so full to the brim of stuff that you can't open some of the doors, and a big dining room table where I can write dubiously mediocre poetry, and some sort of smallish oriental maple tree in the front. That's the other kind of house I'm willing to consider owning.

In the meantime, I will continue to drag my peonies around to wherever I am, and work on forming and shaping my identity into whatever suits me right now. Today I will be six feet tall and win a marathon, and I think I will be, hmmmm, what is a suitable ethnicity that won't get me hated on Twitter?

Previous Post

June 17, 2015

Chicken and Couscous

Next Post

June 19, 2015 7 Tired Takes

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Children in Conversation culture watch Daily Devotions Demotivations with Anne faith alone for the grandparents GAFCON In conversation with children In the News Kitchen Notes Lambeth Learning Notes Life Going On Men are Human Notes from Home Pictures Reading the Bible Saturday Links Sermons Signs of the Apocalypse The Bad Word Association The Prayer of Jonah Travel Notes Uncategorized Witless Wednesdays Work and the Christian

Select a Month June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: King Josiah found the Book of the Law hidden in the temple during repairs.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE

Books by This Author Books by Anne Kennedy

See All Titles »