Living in a Material World

   My sister and I had a great conversation a few days ago about the problems with materialism...sounds kinda obvious, boring, and not about you? That is what I was thinking before we got-to-talkin.
    Our convo was stemmed from the craziness that came on the launch day of Missoni for Target.  Around the United States, stores were swarmed, rackes emptied, and one Target website went down for the count. All of this for what? Target version of fashion?
    Don't get me wrong... I still love Target and I do like Missoni as well...Fashion on the cheap is what I do - but our addiction to labels has taken hold like a California wildfire! Is it just because the shirt says a brand name on the back that you had to have it? If target created similar products and did not have missoni's name on them, I can almost garuntee there would still be plenty of items to go around.

So what the heck? Who are we impressing and what are we proving?

As I was talking to my sister, I happened to look down at the sparkling navy flats I bought today for way to much, just because I wanted to own shoes from that specific designer... I could almost feel the burn of a scarlet letter on my chest...

Jules #1: Why did you buy them?

Jules #2: Because I wanted to be cool...part of the in crowd that knows about things and looks the part.

Jules #1: What happened to my earth friendly, consumer-conscious mind, when I was buying these?

Jules#2: Who the hell knows...but when I am asked about my shoes, I will have a happy answer to give.

As much as I hate admitting it, I know that I am more a part of the problem than I would like to be. John jokes about my expensive taste, and I have never denied that I like nice things... but there is a time and a place... limitations and worthy indulgences. My blue shoes? I justified them by their comfort and practicality... great, but now what? There needs to be actions and consequences to shopping... Here comes into play my new plan!

From now on, for every one item I buy, I will throw another item in the donation pile. If there is nothing that I want to let go of, then I must have enough already, and do not need to make a new purchase. I am going to hold me accountable, what about you?