Of course it’s already entirely too easy to buy new things.
I don’t even need money in my bank account to get a thing.
I don’t even need to leave my bed!
And don’t get me wrong, this is an absolute godsend for some folks, and it’s incredible that this exists.
But could getting pleasure and meaning out of the consumption we need to do help us consume less?
Like, I don’t know, going on a quest for a baking pan led me to meet some lovely new people who I otherwise wouldn’t have known.
It helped me keep dollars here instead of sending them off to make super rich people even richer.
It helped me get to know my community better.
And I actually spent less than I would have by purchasing it online.
Of course, I’m lucky that I have the mobility and some of the time that allows me to explore and do this.
But now that I know about that place, I can go there again and again.
And maybe it’s a good thing that it takes a little more time to buy something because it’ll lead me to think more carefully about what I actually need.
So this month I’m going to try extra hard to spend less time at that grocery store that I love so much but is probably gentrifying my neighborhood.
And I’m going to try to be better about supporting the stores run by my neighbors.
And I’m going to see what I gain and what I lose.