Consumerism vs Excess Consumerism

It is November 11^th and I am sitting out on my family’s deck in Montana watching the lake and enjoying the silence of the lake. There is no mall in site and somehow I still feel happy and content.

This moment of shear enjoyment without having to buy anything leads me back to yesterday. Saturday we hit the mall like apparently like everyone else in Montana. If there is an economic downturn anywhere in the US it’s nowhere near Kalispell, Montana.

As we entered the mall I made a list of all the items I “need”. Well, actually it was more like a list of what "I think I could buy”. I don’t need more stuff, I don’t need to upgrade anything. I have more stuff than most people and I got this far without my imaginary list of “must haves”. So it occurred to me; when did we buy into this idea that shopping and consuming was a noble cause on its own. That a great way to spend a Saturday was fighting the crowds to get more stuff. In my opinion, it really has gone from shopping for items that need replacement or replenishment or filling your functional needs to a matter of determining “what can I add to my list of items I don’t need but might give me some instant moment of gratification”. That is my distinction – when you go from buying items that you require in your daily life or things that will clearly made every one of your future days brighter to just adding shit to the pile. I watch people evaluate what to buy and they look like their objective is as much to just fill the cart as it is to fill their needs. There is no quota or volume to fill folks!!

If you carry a credit card balance, you can likely tie a portion of that debt to my newly defined “excess consumerism”. Try taking a weekend to not spend any money. Don’t buy anything or even hit the malls. See if you can still be happy by Sunday night. Strangely enough, I think you can.

I am a huge fan of stuff – I have good quality stuff, expensive stuff, flashy stuff. But you know what, I also don’t have an excess of it. I buy what I need first and try to wait on all the things “I think I need to fill the void”. I have found the void is internal and no volume of new products will fill it.

I challenge you, where do you draw the line from being a consumer to being excessive with your consumerism. It is important to know, for you, where the line is.