Confessions of a Shopaholic, Barefoot in the Park and other inspirational films

As I stood in my garden this evening, in my pyjamas feeling the cold snow under my bare feet, I had a sudden realisation. Why should all the fun things in life costs money? Shopping has become a pastime with magazines dedicated to fashion and even a film about it. Surely there are other things we could be doing with our time instead? For many shopping is a rush, is fun or the items bought make people feel special but there are other ways to feel good. There are the obvious endorphin release activities of sport, exercise and sex but there are other things you can do, real experiences that can break the routine and remind you that you are actually a free thinking entity that doesn’t have to follow the sleep-work-eat-tv-sleep pattern every day. When you’re caught up in the rat race, bombarded with advertising and media telling you what to eat, what to drink, what to buy and to some extent what to think; its hard to take a step back and think of things to do to prevent the monotony of modern life from taking over. When was the last time I went for a walk in the rain, jumped in puddles, admired a landscape and felt part of this big wide world we live in? Too long ago. Perhaps that should be my new year’s resolution: to think of new ways to enjoy life, to feel alive for free. Hopefully the next life affirming idea I have won’t give me frostbite.

Modern life is rubbish and other tales of woe

It’s been nearly ten months since I started trying to shop ethically, with mixed success. In the last couple of months I have been really struggling. I think it’s a reflection of modern living and how much stuff we need. If I lived in a little house in the middle of nowhere on a large plot with some animals and veggie patch, living the good life, aiming for self sufficiency then I’m sure I wouldn’t want for much. But when you’re doing nine-five to pay the mortgage, need clothes to go to the office and ‘stuff’ like films and good food to help you unwind at the end of the day, its not easy. Now I’m not some fashion victim who needs the latest look all the time but wearing scruffy old jeans to the office really doesn’t project a professional image. I know I’m making excuses for my failings but I have tried, really tried but I can’t manage to shop ethically 100% of the time. In a way I need to make peace with a compromise – if I can shop ethically most of the time, then that’s good, it’s not perfect, but it’s better. I’m still buying fair-trade and organic food where I can, still mostly buying from charities and independent stores but I have been to the high street a couple of times. The most upsetting part of my high street shame though, isn’t that I’ve bought things; it’s that the top I bought is now in the sale for half what I paid for it. Karma? Perhaps. A lesson in patience? Definitely. A sign that I should be more careful about what I spend my money on? Absolutely.