Minimalism: Resist "Add to Cart"

Welcome back to Minimalism in the next generation: where I, a current minimalist, am teaching my child how to leave the world better by being a minimalist. Before we get too excited though, make sure you read part 1:

This article will be colored by the fact I watched a World War 2 movie recently-where many people in that time went without. I am made aware of this fact often, whether through media or experiences that we are in an age of plenty. I find that I become more hedonistic over time and require a nice reminder every now and again. This reminder came from the movie "The Magic of Ordinary Days". This movie fundamentally changed the chemistry in my brain, so if you want to read more on this see below.

You're wondering how all this ties together, fear not, I am about to get to the point! New is not always better. That's it, that's the point. I want you to think of every time you have bought something new and immediately regretted it or lamented about how older models were better. I am certain this happens to all of us more than we want to admit. I am struck by how often we will see something broken or chipped and the response is "I will order a new one". We have lost the art of repair, the art of looking at an item and thinking- how can I fix this, or make it better? In the movie, "The Magic of Ordinary Days" we see the characters have to make due with what they have at their fingertips. We see the characters fix and polish and repair. Perhaps this lesson can be good for us too. We do not have to throw money away on something as frivolous as aesthetics.

I think of all the Pinterest boards and influencers who post about their color matching houses and outfits. I always wanted to be like them, I thought it meant I was put together. I see now that consumerism is about selling and to sell you need to make people think you are solving a problem. Are you really a good mom, good wife, good person if your house is not picture perfect? The answer is yes, you are all those things even without buying that organic cotton duvet that matches the curtains for $500. (On the flip side you can be a shit person and still own that duvet too.) I had to realize that by looking at these curated for social media posts and videos they were inadvertently making me feel less; not necessarily on purpose but that was the memo I was receiving. Late stage capitalism wants you to consume. The system NEEDS you to consume. We actively have to fight against all the consumerism science being used against us in order to fight the urge to "add to cart". I have found that every "add to cart" is tied to a feeling. That cute matching cotton set, I want people to look at me and think "that girl really has it together, and is doing well in life-I bet her parents are so proud of her and her husband loves her out loud." That $75 outfit made me think all those things could be true-at the very least I could LOOK like those things were true. Unfortunately, that money cannot fix the fact my parents think I ruined my life, or the fact that I have been divorced once before. That money doesn't change the little voice in my head from telling me "you are not enough, you are not doing enough." Consumerism is a beast that makes you many promises and under delivers every time.

My money is better spent towards home upgrades, or even earning interest and therefore buying back my freedom. Money is time. If your hourly rate is $40 an hour, you can start to think of purchases as how much time you had to trade for that. That outfit from earlier is two hours of time, two hours I will never get back. Is that what I want to spend my time on. Certainly not.

We have to actively chose the life we want, and sometimes that means not "adding to cart." It means looking around at what we have a taking care of it, whether that is to repair, repaint or simply allow it to be that way. I implore all of you to take a moment to breathe and look inward when you add to cart and maybe, just maybe realize that you do not have to spend your time in services to consumerism. Also, please watch "The Magic of Ordinary Days."