Motivation through consumption

Catt
Thu, 27 Sep 2018 16:14:15 +0000

Hi all,

I've been trying to transition to an anti-consumption and zero-waste life for a year or two now. Just a disclaimer that I'm using "anti-consumption" and "zero-waste" really loosely here. The changes I've made so far are all pretty small, but I'll like to think, consistent and sustainable (at least for me).

Today, I wanted to specifically talk about my hobbies. I play video games, board games, read, write, paint, and do a variety of crafts (jewelry making, crocheting, sewing, card making and more). As you can imagine, my hobbies have been a very consumption and plastic waste heavy part of my life. I had games I never got to or played only once, shelves of books I never read, paint supplies I never opened, boxes of crafting material I never used and more.

My hobbies were also a very easy part to let go off. I had very limited hours in a day, so acknowledging there was no reason to buy anything in advance was already a huge change. Now, I never get anything I'm not immediately using (even if it's on sale or the last one). I also try to only buy second hand, which is really impossible when you need a specific paint colour or something, so I usually end up just making do or doing without. I also stopped watching YouTube tutorial or product comparison videos because I found they all felt like advertising. (I do still watch YT when I'm looking for something specific, like how to fix a X, just no longer browsed).

...until last night. I don't know why, but I started watching a bunch of watercolouring technique videos. Little history, I went from watercolouring pretty much every day and then sort of just stopped around March this year. Life got busy and I just didn't find the time.

And I couldn't help my notice that consuming these videos, and wandering around art supply shops and buying new paint was a huge motivation for me to paint. I wanted to try new techniques or new products. Browsing let me daydream about what I could do, what I could make. Buying something new gave me a certain excitement to be creative, to get to work.

So now I'm thinking maybe I need to adjust my balance a bit and give myself a treat a bit more than I have. Though the idea of basically buying motivation doesn't sit all that well with me...

So, I'm done babbling, anyone else feel this way? Any tips?

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