And yet, and yet ... the cyclical make-it crazes spawn their own consumer culture, feeding into the "I shop therefore I am" mentality. Quilters need ever more of the latest fat quarters. Sewers are bombarded with blandishments to buy the latest computerised machine. Knitters know the brands, varieties, and colour codes of every yarn.In an austere time, Theodore Roosevelt said: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." In a time of plenty (in the West, at least), another slogan is: "Just do it." We could be spending (aha, spending...) our time, and perhaps effort, "doing" it rather than rationalising why we aren't. But life gets cluttered, and it's easier to escape those pressures by switching off and going shopping. Spending money makes you feel powerful - you are seen to be exercising a choice - but decide to spend your evening knitting or sewing and you become invisible, even a stereotyped object of pity.
Pass the bamboo (or vintage plastic) knitting needles - I need to use up my wool before the moths eat it all.Moths! ... that's a rant for another time ...
2 comments:
I feel ya! There's a commercial on TV right now (I refuse to recognize or remember for what product) that starts out "We are a nation of consumers - but that's not a bad thing". It disgusts me to think how many are hoodwinked into believing this tripe.
People seem to exist only for the purpose of consuming! I find magic in being a Creator and have always thought the Invisible Man to be the most powerful of superheroes even if he didn't recognize the scope of his power.
I'm surprised to find myself by quoting a Sheryl Crow lyric, but it holds so true when shopping is promoted as a leisure activity.
"It's not having what you want - it's wanting what you've got"
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