Will Rogers and His Famous Alarm Clock

"It seems kind of funny with everyone being advised to spend and the government spending everything, it seems kind of funny to save a little daylight nowadays."-Will Rogers, 1935, speaking of daylight savings time.

I'm on Day 2 of my journey. And it's simultaneously becoming both simpler and more complex. In February when I chose not to buy anything new, I hadn't told anyone. Plus I kind of had Consumer-Christmas hangover, so I was ready for a change. Now, 2 months later after having traveled the high road of spending, I'm finding it hard to come down from the self-induced high spending can produce. I spent my day today trying to figure out, once again, what I could go buy. While at Value Village last night, I picked up a set of curtains from Ikea that were around 4 bucks. I, oddly enough, got buyers remorse and put them back. I quickly recanted and rushed back today to get them, only to find them gone! *Gasp*

Can you believe it? Somebody bought my damn curtains. Honestly, I heaved a sigh of relief. I felt as thought I'd unintentionally been relieved the burden of owning yet another unnecessary item. I felt like an addict. Like I'd taken my sobriety one day at a time "just for today" and left it at that so that "just for today" I could go back and own something else. In a house of fabric, I obsessed over those curtains. I talked about them to friends. I drove across town to buy them. I felt the intensity as I rushed to the back of the store to see if they were, in fact, where I'd left them the night previous.

They weren't.

I'm beginning to see my problem here. Delayed gratification is not a reality in my world. New or old, I just want it. $4 or $40, I just want it. I can justify anything and I mean ANYTHING. I NEEDED those cloth napkins I bought last night (no mention of the 20ish I already own for my family of 4). I NEEDED another glass juice container in spite of the 2 I already own (no mention of the container juice actually comes in).

Madonna and her cone boobs were right. We really are living in a material world, at least as far as our attitudes and perspectives are concerned. Philosophers said it centuries ago. Jesus, too. The more you have, the more you realize you want, no, need.

There is a lot of wisdom in Will Roger's 1930's comedy concerning human nature and spending. Our government tells us to spend. "The recession is over", they say. "Go out and spend!" Advertisers tell us how much better our lives will be when we buy the shit they have for sell. Our friends and family advise us "Oh, you deserve it. You work hard. Go buy it!" We tell ourselves "I'll save next month..."

But who is really benefitting here? It seems to me we're just ending up tucked away in our suburbs and subdivisions, storing things away, to prove to ourselves and others that we're good enough to own things. Where is our worth? Where do we find our gratification? When will we learn to wait? Or even more- to do without?

I'm hoping I can learn to do the latter. Until tomorrow...

"Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want to impress people they don't like."-- Will Rogers