First there was Christmas, then came the Sales and now the shops are full of new things we can buy for Valentine's Day, Easter and even Summer! Forget about the UK being a nation of shopkeepers, it seems we've become a nation of shoppers!
Now I don't mean to sound like a kill joy, and I do enjoy my home comforts, but do we really need all this stuff that advertisers and even our friends think we should have? And what are we doing with all the old stuff that we bought last year, last month, last week?!
You only have to glance at the news headlines these days to realise that shopping doesn't increase our levels of happiness. And in his book Affluenza, Oliver James shows how the surge in material affluence can actually produce the opposite of happiness. Infact, of the two items I did buy recently, one fell apart and the other has broken down........so, far from making me happier, they actually caused me more frustration :-o
And where does all this stuff come from anyway? And how come it's so cheap? Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have been showing us recently the true cost of cheap chicken. What about all the other things we spend so much time accumulating? Would you believe that 800,000 tonnes of clothes were thrown away in the UK in 2006; a people carrier weighs about a tonne. And workers in Bangladesh are paid just 5p an hour to produce clothes for a number of our high street stores!
I recently came across this brilliant little film at http://www.storyofstuff.com/ It's well worth a look if you care about any of this and are willing to challenge a few old habits ;-)
For my part, I've taken a couple of small steps. The first is to start wearing some perfectly good, old clothes that I've had in my wardrobe for a while instead of buying new ones. The second is to buy less food so there's less to dispose of....and of course, less temptation to over eat ;-) And already I've received several complements on my old clothes so maybe new isn't always best!
Anyway, I'll get off my soap box now ;-)
Just one final word.........Whatever we do, and whatever we buy, it's well worth remembering that 'we are not what we have' ;-) And when we let go of identifying with things and instead get a stronger sense of our true identity we get to live happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives ;-)
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment" Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thanks for reading
Til next time
Have fun!
Denise x
Now I don't mean to sound like a kill joy, and I do enjoy my home comforts, but do we really need all this stuff that advertisers and even our friends think we should have? And what are we doing with all the old stuff that we bought last year, last month, last week?!
You only have to glance at the news headlines these days to realise that shopping doesn't increase our levels of happiness. And in his book Affluenza, Oliver James shows how the surge in material affluence can actually produce the opposite of happiness. Infact, of the two items I did buy recently, one fell apart and the other has broken down........so, far from making me happier, they actually caused me more frustration :-o
And where does all this stuff come from anyway? And how come it's so cheap? Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have been showing us recently the true cost of cheap chicken. What about all the other things we spend so much time accumulating? Would you believe that 800,000 tonnes of clothes were thrown away in the UK in 2006; a people carrier weighs about a tonne. And workers in Bangladesh are paid just 5p an hour to produce clothes for a number of our high street stores!
I recently came across this brilliant little film at http://www.storyofstuff.com/ It's well worth a look if you care about any of this and are willing to challenge a few old habits ;-)
For my part, I've taken a couple of small steps. The first is to start wearing some perfectly good, old clothes that I've had in my wardrobe for a while instead of buying new ones. The second is to buy less food so there's less to dispose of....and of course, less temptation to over eat ;-) And already I've received several complements on my old clothes so maybe new isn't always best!
Anyway, I'll get off my soap box now ;-)
Just one final word.........Whatever we do, and whatever we buy, it's well worth remembering that 'we are not what we have' ;-) And when we let go of identifying with things and instead get a stronger sense of our true identity we get to live happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives ;-)
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment" Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thanks for reading
Til next time
Have fun!
Denise x
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