In keeping a bit with the theme from my post yesterday, for one of my New Year’s resolutions I dropped all of the technology related blogs from my feed reader. For maybe the last fifteen years or so I’ve always been up to date about the latest new technology and gadgets. I could possibly make the argument that it’s been nice to be able to help people when they have questions about stuff, but I also know for a fact that keeping up to date on all of the latest gadgets and doodads has made me want to buy them. It’s made it easy to be unsatisfied with what I have and always wanting the newest thing instead. So I decided to try to just drop all of that information off my radar screen. We’re only a couple days into the new year and I already feel a little lost considering I “missed” Mac World earlier this week and I’ll “miss” CES at the end of this week. I know that sounds silly, but that’s how my mind thinks about it. I guess it’s kind of like an addiction of sorts. I’ve been addicted to too much information about too much stuff that in reality doesn’t really mean anything to me and that I don’t even remotely need. I’m hoping that not reading about all of the new things coming out will help me learn to be more content.
When we moved to FL and didn’t have the mound of ads at Dad and Mom’s to look at on Sundays, I noticed I was much less motivated to shop. The “wants” all but disappeared on a weekly basis. I remember, as you said in your last post, how freeing that realization was. Just being happy with what we have (which we should be, because we have been provided for abundantly). Maybe having fewer blogs to read will = updating YOUR blog more like you have been this week. ;)
Comment by Becca — January 8, 2009 @ 6:43 am
What makes it all the more challenging is that everywhere we go we are constantly bombarded with advertising… and ad agencies know darn well that one very effective way to make us buy new stuff is to engender feelings of dissatisfaction with what we have. The irony is that the items advertised will quickly become the *new* targets of our advertisement-induced dissatisfaction as “better” products come out.
One of the best and well-thought-out publications on this topic is, of course, Madame Blueberry. No really, it’s pretty good, they actually hit on a lot of this stuff… now I just sing a falsetto “Stuuuuuuffff MAaaaaaarrt” whenever I start to feel the pull towards a new gadget :D
Comment by Jeremy — June 15, 2010 @ 9:56 am