Motivation through consumption
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?
It doesn't sound like you're buying motivation. It sounds like you're getting your motivation from YouTube, and then buying the means to act upon it. The question is what happens to the stuff after you buy it. Are you still buying stuff and then not using it, or are you actually painting after you've watched your videos and bought your stuff?
Motivation is definitely more so from YT. When I do buy something, I do generally use it almost immediately. Every now and then, I will buy something I didn't get to using right away, and if this happens it'll generally never be used.
Watercolouring, specifically, really only needs more or less a 12 colour palette. And I love the idea of new specific colours, but very few will make it into use after a weekend. I usually use them for technique practice after, which seems sort of wasteful.
Technique practice is not wasteful. It's practice. As a card-carrying Pope of the Discordian faith, I hereby bless you and verily I tell thee that materials used to practice are not wasted.
Go forth and sin some more.
It's really commendable that you're trying to cut down on your waste and consumption. That's something probably all of us should strive to do a bit more.
But don't discount the value of self-care. If painting is something that you find psychologically rewarding, it's perfectly okay to pursue that in whichever way works for you.
If you find yourself again having materials you haven't been using and they're starting to collect to dust, that's only waste if they're thrown away. You could always list them on eBay, Craigslist, or similar so that somebody else may use them.
They'll have byproducts of course, such as packaging. But we can't sacrifice ourselves to save the world. All we can do is hope to find a balance that we're comfortable with. Perhaps if you start consuming more paints, you could try to find a way to cut consumption in another area in your life.
Do what feels right, yeah?
Thanks for your comment. Honestly my anti-consumption journey has made me really guilty of lots of things. This is a really good reminder.
My favorite art has always been the art constrained by scarcity.
Why not challenge yourself to create something new based on what you already have?
I couldn't help but laugh reading this, because I actually am a minimalist painter. Though I have an array of brushes, paper and palettes, I almost never deviate from my two favourite brushes and my travel palette.
I think what happens is I see someone do something I never would have and want to duplicate it to try it out, and for some unknown reason, I want to try it with the products they used.
I do find a new favourite every now and then that makes it into my everyday stuff.
I guess, it's more of, I sometime just forget I love painting until something (like a new video or product) remains me.
maybe you just need to set a monthly budget and stick to it. You could be overthinking this. :)
Yeah I can definitely relate to this, having spent many hour browsing ebay for electronics bits from china, oh look that stepper motor, drives, accelerometer, all so cheep, think of the possibilities! The time it takes to ship is really what puts a lid on it, when you consider it can take months to arrive — so I guess delayed purchase? Apart from that I look at recycling the stuff I come across, broken printer, cd drive, etc. he disassembly, desoldering, sorting etc, kind of work to scratch that itch as well. Then thinking of building a project around using the available stuff first. At some point you just have to decide how much you value a particular creative outlet, and be comfortable that as a cost (environmental and monetary) of living.
I think a purchase sort of works as a commitment device, but yeah it's all to easy to enjoy those movements of daydreaming about all the wonderful things you will/could do. Similar to a lottery ticket, although I've never bought one. Marketing departments know this all to well and really are actively working against you in this regard. But yeah but nothing really new here, so I guess idk, it's hard.
It really can be a commitment device, and ultimately I just don't want to be a victim of good marketing. But yeah, it's difficult drawing the line between my daydreams and what someone is selling me.