Curbing Constant Consumerism Cravings

Bespoke Living

I don’t know the creator of this video to give proper credit, but it definitely shows how lost we are as a collective and it shows in our environment. The waning of beauty in the world is a waning of consciousness, of soulful endeavors, of connection to God through awe and wonder on display around us, not only in nature, but in the heart-filled artistic expression.

I am certain the increase in consumerism goes beyond the throw-away disposable ways of modern-day society. The convenience and comfort are certainly a contribution to the search for what is fast and easy, but there is something deeper at play.

Obviously doing the so called “inner-work” is an important note, but this is about the prevalence, or lack thereof, of beauty in our lives.

The reason we seek rejuvenation in nature is vast, from the grounding and cleansing effects of forest bathing, hiking or swimming in the sea to the quiet escape of the city noise, but there is also the reverence for its aesthetic depiction.

As a feng shui consultant, it’s obvious that people have lost touch with the natural world and parts of themselves, often they don’t even know what they like. The pictures that hang on walls act as placeholders, but they don’t feel connection to it, the inspiration and longing for beauty is replaced by cookie-cutter art and rooms-to-go-in-a-box matching sets. There is no support for fulfilling dreams when the story the walls are telling are void of soul.

From home aesthetics to fashion, it’s not about trends or flair, but awareness, simplicity, function and the importance of beauty.

If you hang linen curtains or wear a linen t-shirt, there’s a subtle beauty that resides because the frequency of the material emanates a much higher energy signature than plastic polyester.

In the same way drinking from a beautiful mug makes the tea taste better than if it were bland or cracked.

I think the consumerism in our society has increased because the everyday objects, the architecture, the beauty around us has faded. When the soul of creating and crafting, of supporting our neighbors, was replaced by machines, so too began the convenience of consuming more things.

The sleek boxy modern architecture and colorless landscape of our world has become unfulfilling and sterile. As such, people buy more, but deep down they are longing for beauty.

I remember my grandmother’s water glasses being so pretty, even her crockpot where she made meatballs was blanketed in painted flowers. My grandpa always wore a timeless leather belt and his shoes were shined. Aesthetics mattered because it is indeed a reflection of the inner, thus, to ignore it on the collective scale is to ignore the whole.

The resurgence of re-purposing old items, shopping for vintage and making what we have work in new ways is proof that we’re beginning to see how far we’ve strayed from living in environments with soul.

I remember seeing a beautiful old church get demolished near an old home I lived in, and I just thought, why? It was replaced with the usual sterile square box of condos in another shade of grey.

When we take time to fill our lives with beauty, we nurture our body, mind and soul. The architecture, fashion and everyday objects reflected this beauty in our past and showed a sense of care…care for ourselves, care for others, care for our world.

Beauty invites thoughtfulness and peace. From handwritten stationary to purely witnessing the beauty of your pets, when we give attention to our temple, both body and home, we begin to live with more consciousness and purpose in how we show up each and every day. We choose differently and more deliberately….it becomes easier to see if something feeds our soul, our heart…if it inspires…. or not.

Beauty simply inspires us, it motivates, it makes us feel alive, and when we live in-spirit we live in more joy and peace.

When we feel nourished and surrounded by beauty, the urge for more wanes, the simplicity becomes enough and there is reverence for what we do have, ever how little…there is no need for more…there is no need to replace anything. This is important because the constant need to replace things poorly made in modern times has trickled into how society sees people as replaceable too.

As we move more into the appreciation for what was, I hope we find our way back to artful environments crafted by real human hands, humans with heart, humans that bring forth their artful ways from jewelry making to music, from architecture to fashion, from everyday objects to the art that hangs on our walls…when we appreciate the effort and beauty in these things, the need for constant consuming stops and the appreciation for slowing down and enjoying what we have returns.

The excessive consumerism in our society from the digital temptation to constantly consume information to the constant buying of things is multi-faceted and layered for sure, but one thing I know is that it is also partly due to the unconscious desire to make our lives beautiful again….to reclaim our world from these black mirrors and sterile boxes that are empty no matter how filled up it appears.

So, support your local antique dealers, paint a wall, buy your friends photography, wear your grandma’s vintage hat…. let’s slow down and find beauty again, create beauty…. because this will quelle the consumeristic urge and corporate overlords that always try to sell more-more-more…the lie that innovation and progress is about comfort, production, and profit.

I believe when we make our own little world beautiful, we contribute vastly to the whole. Sovereignty is not just about reclaiming freedom but freedom in expression….creating….honoring beauty as shown to us in nature, in God’s creation….and when we do this, things begin to light up again.

It sickens me when I see the 5g towers ….and light “fixtures” that have replaced exquisitely crafted lamp posts….one lights the way to hell and one lights the way to heaven.

May you see beauty.
May you find beauty.
May you create beauty.
May you be beauty.
The authentic kind………..the kind of beauty that wells up from inside the heart and reaches out to connect with the spectrum of colors and vibrancy that comes from a society really living and not numbed out, head down, going through the motions…dead.

I’m thankful to find places where people repurpose or make furniture out of real wood instead of particle board….where clothing is made of cotton instead of plastic…the lost ways are returning and this is the true renaissance, the real revolution, not protesting in streets and begging for permission to exist.

The consumerist society is a cry for beauty, a void that can’t be filled with plastic portraits and polyester curtains…. a void that can’t be filled with sterile walls and colorless halls.

When we slow down and find time to be with, be in, be surrounded by, or be in the act of creating beauty, the ways of the crumbling consumerist need-it-now world can crumble too….but leave in its wake something better.

When we connect with nature, with beauty, we find deeper connection with each other and realize we need far less than we thought while finding usefulness and the fruits of our labor in the handyworks of mankind…instead of feeding the egregore of the machine that produces nothing of value, only takes.

The past, our ancestors, they did get some things right and those are the things we need to reclaim and bring forward with us…especially in this technological age, more than ever.

So the next time you have the urge, or need, to buy something…maybe consider asking yourself, is this beautiful to me? Can I find it secondhand? Do I know someone that makes this sort of thing? Is this quality acceptable for long-term application?

And be careful not to fall into the minimalism trap. This is an attempt to heal over-consumption but at the expense of beauty, which is why many that started this trend have abandoned this line of thinking recognizing that for a rich and layered life we need texture, color, warmth and meaning surrounding us.

There’s a reason things from the past last…when something is made with human hands and energy it’s special, it’s stronger… and still to be found in attics and antique stores, whereas that made with machines in our modern times is always breaking and ending up in oceans and landfills.

With this realization, I’m certainly working on changing my own ways, it’s not an overnight undoing but a process of unraveling over time and creating better ways of living, buying, being…cultivating life instead of consuming it….this is the beauty way.

Remember, the only true way to vote for change is to vote with your dollar and time….spend it wisely….and beautifully.

It’s ironic isn’t it…the fast and easy things available right through the the phone at your fingertips is often not those things made to last or touched by the human hand.

Let’s make life beautiful again. Bespoke it…off-line.

Don’t cheapen your existence by substituting beauty for convenience, but bring beauty and functionality back together in unity by supporting life in the great work done by living beings.

And before you go and buy something you don’t really need, how about go find some beauty instead…..I’m certain the craving will subside.

When we are surrounded by beauty, where life has been breathed into our environment, our things, then we, too, become connected to those who created the things…the time, effort, talent that has the potential to weave a world congruent with the natural instead of fighting against it.

When the design of “things” is beautiful, textured, and created with beauty, consumerism wanes and life is richer with less.

With love,
Angela

Beautiful images from days gone by…..sigh…..

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