An Ache for Meaning

I am still enjoying the book Affluenza and thought I would share this humorous tidbit with you:

Cincinnati -- the blank, oppressive void facing the American consumer populace remains unfilled despite the recent launch of the revolutionary Swiffer dust-elemination system, sources reported Monday. The lightweight, easy-to-use Swiffer is the 275,894,973rd amazing new product to fail to fill the void - a vast, soul-crushing spiritual vacuum Americans of all ages face on a daily basis, with nowhere to turn and no way to escape...Despite high hopes, the Swiffer has failed to imbue a sense of meaning and purpose in the lives of its users.
--- From The Humor Newspaper, The Onion - February 9, 2000

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"