Let's put it this way. I am so very very grateful I am able to visit San Miguel. I am grateful I am able to travel by myself. I am grateful for this time of exploration of not only San Miguel, but of my own soul. Time alone is such a gift in so many ways.
In the past few years I have deliberately taken a giant step back from consumerism, from the huge uncontrollable marketing machine that is every inch controlled by huge corporate America ... and now more than ever, globally. When are we going to stop buying into it? Interesting thought to ponder. I have seen children with such an abundance of toys it's almost obscene. How can a child learn to appreciate or value anything? This entire topic actually fascinates me. It will be interesting to see how we evolve as we become more conscious of being 'green'. Perhaps some positive changes will come out of this. The fact that charitable organizations turn donations away because they have too much "stuff" is an interesting and fairly new concept. Even the homeless no longer 'freeze to death' from lack of warm clothing. Not in this Province anyway. Warm clothing is available. This is new.
As women, the market targets us. We are the shoppers. We are the most vulnerable. It would be lovely to teach our young women this is not where our core values are best placed. I agree, it's wonderful to look our best. It's wonderful to have nice things. It's fun to follow the trends. However, when we can't walk into our closets because they are so jam packed with clothing .... I think perhaps we should stand back and take a good look. What do we really need. How many pairs of shoes can we wear at one time???? Advertising is so huge these days. Everywhere we turn, we are bombarded by images, words, sounds, sites and smells. They have targeted all of our senses. If we are not aware, we are sucked right in. As consumers, we are consumed by it!
Interesting topic. Personally, at this moment in my life, I would much rather 'do' than 'have' or indeed 'acquire'. Exploring new genres, travel, researching new topics of interest, new projects, new friends, old friends, finding out who I really am in relation to the world around me is much more fun than buying 'stuff'. I suspect this is how we evolve.
It's late. I still have things which must be done tonight. Tomorrow, I have a couple of errands. After that I will get down to some serious packing. Packing always stresses me!! I never know what to take. I end up taking it ALL. I am determined not fall into this old pattern for this journey. Any suggestions?????? There must be a system, a packing formula I could develop which would be very simple and thus, no stress ... only happy happy me! That would be miraculous! Worth thinking about. Who else has trouble knowing what to take ... especially when I'm going for three months .... HELP!
"So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave?"
No comments:
Post a Comment