I buy stuff. Truth be told, I buy a LOT of stuff, mostly that I don't need or particularly like, just because... I don't even know. I suppose it's just normal here. If I feel happy, I deserve to buy myself something to celebrate! If I feel sad, why not cheer myself up with a shiny new widget? And if I'm bored, there's no more socially acceptable way to alleviate that than spending an afternoon with my friends going out for lunch and then shopping. Right??
Shopping's good.
Only... it's not.
I'm worried about the finances, the environment, human rights, clutter and all of that. However, the one reason that really gets to me much more than others is that I worry about my own ego and stupidity. When I look at how much my grandmother could do, I find myself falling far short-- and that's comparing me as an adult to her at 8 years old! I'm used to both easy and immediate ways to acquire things, and while I do have some (a very few) skills to create, the amount of times I've used those skills is quite pathetic. Making takes time and effort. Why not just buy?
I know there are people out there who pride themselves on being 'good' shoppers, meaning they can spend a ton in not a lot of time, or are able to endure hours upon hours of shopping. "Shop til you drop! Melt that plastic!" Really? How is that good? Is it a skill to be able to rapidly exchange rectangular pieces of green paper for someone else's hard work? I just can't buy that, pardon the pun. Baking is a skill. Canning is a skill. Knitting is a skill. Being able to fix plumbing is a skill. Spending.... is not.
Please know that I'm not a survivalist (though I do count 'surviving' as something I like to do every day without exception) and the items I make will likely be more pretty than end-times practical. See, I happen to believe that we've lost all touch with what it takes to produce items, and therefore they've lost all sense of value. I'm trying to get that back by learning to produce what I can, on my own, from more raw* materials. I've challenged myself to make as much as I can during the course of the next year, just to see what I can do and how quickly I can learn new skills and techniques. Will it be worth it? I don't know. We'll see.
*--Note that I live in a city, so when I talk about knitting or crocheting, I mean that I bought the wool rather than raised my own sheep for it. Likewise, when I bake bread, I bought the flour instead of growing the wheat and grinding it myself. The hypocrisy if talking about not shopping, then going out and buying yarn does sting a little, but there's not much else I can do, as hubby would probably murder me three times over if I brought home some angora goats and a few sheep just so I wasn't being two-faced on my blog.
