I like stuff ! I like having choices. Variety is the spice of life. These statements are true for me. With that thought in mind I wonder why I get a sad feeling while at the Walmart or mall ? I look at all the stuff available and watch others scurrying around and rooting through everything. All that comes to mind is " crass consumerism. " I am no activist, no defender of social consciousness, yet this feeling comes over me. I feel it a little stronger each time I go to one of those places. Is there some kind of readjustment going on in my thinking ? A change ?
Yesterday in the news they were talking about the sun. The scientists were saying it is getting ready to shift the polarity of its' poles. Apparently this happens once every 11 years. There is no explanation for this cycle. They say the earth does the same thing only it happens every 450,000 years , on average. It also takes between ten thousand and one hundred thousand years for this to happen. Could I be feeling a shift in my polarity ? I have noticed this before and in fact wrote about it. I noticed it when I moved my bed and the head became the foot and vice versa. My sleep was briefly interrupted by this change in polarity. I don't think it was the sun then, I mean my bedroom gets rearranged more often than every eleven years. Of course my relationship with this polarity does. Humm. something more to consider.
But back to what I was talking about. This consumer gluttony. I am wondering if the availability of so many choices is now leaving us unsatisfied. Remember when you were a child and you wanted that one particular toy ? That was the one you wanted and no other would do. When the time came and you got that toy did you not feel elated ? A need had been satisfied. You had to choose just one or two items. The choices were not as plentiful and the receiving of these gifts not so frequent. Remember when you didn't get that one special item that you so badly desired ? I do, and I remember still wanting it, sometimes years later. Now it seems we flit from thing to thing as quickly as a hummingbird at a feeder. Perhaps it is sensory overload.
I'm certainly not the first to notice this. Others have written and reported on this phenomena. It has to do with contentment and enjoyment. Can you be satisfied,happy and content with the items you already have ? Even when those items are not the latest and greatest ? Can you put a filter on your own desires ?
I tend to find the things I enjoy and stick with them. The items that make me feel confident and comfortable over the years, those things that have stood the test of time. Maybe it is part of the aging process, this realization that we do not need everything we see. That would explain why we keep ratty old sweaters and worn jeans. And perhaps some of it is fear. As we age learning new things, like programming a dvr, can be a daunting task. Perhaps we can just be content with the way things were. Nothing wrong with that. Having lived the past it is certainly a comfort to the soul. New things and changes can be upsetting. Maybe, just maybe, all this crass consumerism is leading society to a lack of focus. We have so much we cannot enjoy the things we have because we want more. Are we so busy looking for stuff that we are not appreciative of the things we have ? Maybe it is this "rush" that bothers me. I mean, just how much " stuff " do you need ?
I guess only time, can tell.
Yesterday in the news they were talking about the sun. The scientists were saying it is getting ready to shift the polarity of its' poles. Apparently this happens once every 11 years. There is no explanation for this cycle. They say the earth does the same thing only it happens every 450,000 years , on average. It also takes between ten thousand and one hundred thousand years for this to happen. Could I be feeling a shift in my polarity ? I have noticed this before and in fact wrote about it. I noticed it when I moved my bed and the head became the foot and vice versa. My sleep was briefly interrupted by this change in polarity. I don't think it was the sun then, I mean my bedroom gets rearranged more often than every eleven years. Of course my relationship with this polarity does. Humm. something more to consider.
But back to what I was talking about. This consumer gluttony. I am wondering if the availability of so many choices is now leaving us unsatisfied. Remember when you were a child and you wanted that one particular toy ? That was the one you wanted and no other would do. When the time came and you got that toy did you not feel elated ? A need had been satisfied. You had to choose just one or two items. The choices were not as plentiful and the receiving of these gifts not so frequent. Remember when you didn't get that one special item that you so badly desired ? I do, and I remember still wanting it, sometimes years later. Now it seems we flit from thing to thing as quickly as a hummingbird at a feeder. Perhaps it is sensory overload.
I'm certainly not the first to notice this. Others have written and reported on this phenomena. It has to do with contentment and enjoyment. Can you be satisfied,happy and content with the items you already have ? Even when those items are not the latest and greatest ? Can you put a filter on your own desires ?
I tend to find the things I enjoy and stick with them. The items that make me feel confident and comfortable over the years, those things that have stood the test of time. Maybe it is part of the aging process, this realization that we do not need everything we see. That would explain why we keep ratty old sweaters and worn jeans. And perhaps some of it is fear. As we age learning new things, like programming a dvr, can be a daunting task. Perhaps we can just be content with the way things were. Nothing wrong with that. Having lived the past it is certainly a comfort to the soul. New things and changes can be upsetting. Maybe, just maybe, all this crass consumerism is leading society to a lack of focus. We have so much we cannot enjoy the things we have because we want more. Are we so busy looking for stuff that we are not appreciative of the things we have ? Maybe it is this "rush" that bothers me. I mean, just how much " stuff " do you need ?
I guess only time, can tell.
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