As a quasi-Catholic (that’s never an option to check on the survey, is it?), this year I’ve decided to give up shopping for clothes for Lent. I’ve been shopping a lot lately, which isn’t anything new for me. Sales have been phenomenal. The retailer’s pain has definitely become my gain.
If you’re into shopping, then you’re probably familiar with the shopper’s high. The feeling that comes when you leave a store with a couple bags in your hand and some really amazing pieces of clothing. Lately I’ve been succumbing to using the shopper’s high as a pick me up more frequently then is healthy for my mental state and for my wallet. The reality is that I don’t need any more stuff, and that’s all it really is – stuff. I’d like to use the next 40 days as introspection not necessarily on my shopping habits, but whether I’m getting my highs from the wrong places.
So far, it is not going swimmingly. I went vintage shopping with Tara on Saturday, and she knew I was giving up shopping, so I couldn’t buy anything. But I thought about going on Sunday when she wasn’t around. I’m not exactly up on my religous reading, but I’m pretty sure I’d get turned into a pillar of salt for that kind of offense. And already I’m running through my mind a list of things I need or the fact that Alexander McQueen’s line for Target launches on March 4.
At the end of Lent, I’m hoping that I’m a little self aware of just how often I use shopping to fill my life. I suspect even I’ll be amazed at the depth of my shallowness.
