Change Your Life

Consumerism vs. Minimalism


I am being torn apart, and I don’t know who to talk to about it. I don’t know who would understand it. I’m going through a minimalist period, but it seems like the more I get rid of, the more I find I didn’t get good quality this, or that is falling apart, or this no longer fits, or I’m about to start a new job and there’s a 48 hour sale on brand new Cole Haan’s that take them from $200 to less than $70, but I still feel guilty spending that much money when we aren’t supposed to be spending money on unnecessary things. Plus see minimalism above. I have two comfortable pairs of dress shoes that I would love to keep, but I don’t know if they are up to snuff for the new job I might be getting soon. A lot is up in the air.

Plus there are boxes everywhere. I am researching things left and right trying to find the right deal for the right quality, and it seems like there is no right answer. It’s like the South Park episode about voting between a giant douche or a turd sandwich. It will always be the cheaper one or the better quality, and which do you need for what? I am trying to stop shopping altogether except for food and necessities. I’ve stopped with books, but when it comes to food, what is absolutely necessary? I bought fruits thinking I would love smoothies, tried making a smoothie last night with my personal blender, and that’s going directly in the donation pile! The loud sound, the smell of burning…it was very bad. It was a low quality product which might be part of it, but looking at the internet, I don’t want to spend over a hundred dollars for something that MIGHT be different. And I don’t have money for that for every appliance. 

The other thing is that I’m spending more and more time planning and alone in general. I want to spend more time alone. I don’t know why. I’m starting to get concerned. Is my mental health needing a recheck? I love the time I spend with Paul, and I love the communication we have, but I spend less and less time watching TV. For some reason, my attention span is getting smaller and smaller, and I want to fall asleep every time we watch a show. I’m just not interested in TV anymore. I don’t think it’s my depression, because I genuinely enjoy Paul, I’m just starting to like being by myself a little bit…more…?

I’ve purposely spent more time apart from him, and I think it has helped both of us. When we are together, we are together because we want to be, not because he’s off work and that’s just what we’ve fallen in the habit of doing. He’s been able to play new video games, which has helped his mental health. I’ve been easier to be around which has helped us both. Things are looking up for us, and we are starting to feel hope again after the devastating blow of me losing my job. We are cooking together (sometimes) which has allowed us to share in productivity and the fruits of our labors. I think overall it has added intentionality to what we do. We fell into the pattern of doing things because that’s the way we do things. That was our routine. Now we don’t have as much a routine, which is both unnerving and makes us think more about what we are actually doing.

I would encourage you to get out of your comfort zone and shake up your life a little bit if you can. It doesn’t have to be a crazy adventure, but what would happen if you bought a random container of cookie dough and set aside a few minutes to bake cookies instead of buying the ones in the package pre-baked? What if you had a cup of tea and took a minute to look out the window while it cooled down instead of scrolled on your phone mindlessly social media dreading or shopping?

What if you changed your life for just five or ten minutes a day this week?

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