Lately I'm being inundated with ads telling me that if I just buy *this* product, I can save HUNDREDS of dollars, and be one step closer to my fulfilled self. Okay, well, maybe not specifically the latter statement, but it's implied.
Save Money, Buy Stuff!
Everywhere I turn, it seems, there are products that will save me money, if I *just* buy them. If I just click on the link, or use this coupon, or take advantage of this offer (I'm looking at you Grove Collaborative). The problem is, I'm not buying it in the literal or metaphorical sense. I mean, I can't. I don't have the continual resources to buy all of the things that are supposed to make my life and my finances better. (And just typing that sentence underlines how absurd the idea is.)
I can't expect to both give someone my money, then have that money still be in my pocket. (And it certainly isn't buying me happiness.)
Self Sufficiency Isn't Something You Buy
I get that there is "strategic" purchasing. Things that you buy now and can sell later to make money. Or things that really do cut your consumption of other things. But when did we become a society whose only option was to buy stuff? When did self sufficiency start looking like a trip to the grocery or box store? It's something you learn, not something you buy at the store then recycle when you're finished with it.
Granted, I can't make my own electrical wire or plumbing pipes, but I can learn how to utilize certain skills. I can grow my own plants & harvest my own food. I can pick up materials on the secondary (or curbside) "market" and make/build things. I can borrow or barter. I shouldn't have to rely solely on this system of consumerism in order to build my happy life.
We are a Square Peg Society
I used to think I was the ultimate square peg in a round hole. No part of who I was fit into how I was "supposed to be." I'm just now realizing that most of us don't fit into the round hole of "supposed to be." A lot of us try really hard. I tried really hard for a really long time. I did this because I didn't want to be labeled as "Other" in a society where "Other" is detrimental. We are constantly informed that "Other" is what makes your life harder, so you just shouldn't be that. On a subconscious level I think we are all aware of the risks, which is why we all try so hard to fit into that round hole.
After all, the Round Hole People are *the best* people. They have the income that appears effortless. They have the college degrees for which student loans (if there are any) seem to be an afterthought. They have the big house, the nice car, the happy family. Except, they only exist in our collective imagination. On the TV or movie screens. They are the idyllic model of who we are all supposed to be.
But we're not them. And while it would be nice to have the income and no student loans, I'm really happy that we are a tribe of square (or triangular, or amorphous, or whatever-shaped) pegs.
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