Monday, March 17, 2008

Affluenza - Epidemic of Overconsumption

Duncan and I were invited to some friends house for dinner the other night and had a fabulous time. While chatting over dessert, the topic of marketing came up and our friends began discussing the issues of advertising today - in movies, commercials, etc. They referred to a show about Affluenza and to the book and then loaned us their copy so we could read it. I am not that far into it, but so far it is very good.

As a Personal Organizer, I have a love/hate relationship with stuff. I love helping people organize their stuff, but find that they cling so tightly to things that have very little value, allowing those items to add stress to their lives so they aren't really enjoy the people around them. This applies to my own life as all of my friends can attest to: I love the thrill of getting a good deal on something, but hate the feeling of over consumption that often goes along with it.

As the book points out on page 8: "The message of this book isn't to stop buying; it's to buy carefully and consciously with full attention to the real benefits and costs of your purchases, remembering, always, that the best things in life aren't things"

1 comment:

Rachel said...

So, looking at the website, I like this first point:

"1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses."

he he he

But, seriously- I don't have the issue of buying stuff (simply because I have come to realize if I don't shop, than I won't buy... so I don't shop! Though I'm planning IKEA this summer...), but I do know what your talking about with keeping useless stuff and it only causes stress.
Oh the guilt of getting rid of Grandma's fondue forks. Never mind the fact that I have 3 lovely pieces of furniture/artwork in my house that remind me of her every day and I never saw her use the forks or even knew she owned some until she had passed away.
In the end, what happens to it anyway? We can't take it with us- nor would we want to. It's just stuff and when we get to heaven the only thing that matters is what we did not what we have.
Thanks for the reminder.