If you like shopping...

...don't watch this video. There, you've been warned. People who have seen it like to curse me in a cheerful sort of way when they do go shopping. Some of them report that the song has helped them to cut down on mindless consumption. You know... seeing something, and buying it without really thinking. My sisters especially don't like this video because it has a tendency to be an earworm...

You can blame the whole thing on the Master Composter/Recycler course I took from the City of Edmonton in 2007. I had to go for an interview to prove I was worthy Master Composter/Recycler material, and sometime after that, this little ditty started playing in my head. For the course's final assignment, my sister helped me make my little earworm into a simple video. This final version was posted on YouTube two months later, and since then it has been really interesting hearing from people from all over the world who find the song interesting and helpful (in spite of my warbly voice and amateur guitar abilities).

I used to be one of those people who got upset when my husband gave me a "practical present" instead of something frivolous or pretty. I remember feeling really let down one Christmas when he bought me a coffee maker (even though it was a very good one). Likewise, I hated buying him things that he really needed (he's forever wearing out his wallet) -- I wanted to give him something more exciting and interesting. But he's not someone who needs or wants anything unusual or extravagant -- it was my ego that insisted upon the brightly coloured sweater and Star Trek tie that he only wore once (even though he was a Trekkie at the time)! Since we've embraced Voluntary Simplicity, we see that meeting each other's needs is more valid than buying wants that aren't essential and only take up space in our lives. 

The thing about shopping -- not just at Christmas, but anytime -- is that it's too easy for people to get caught up in the consumer mentality of wanting everything we see rather than purchasing what we really NEED. Stores and advertizing are designed in such a way that they don't encourage us to think in terms of what is necessary or what is sustainable. The markets are built on the idea of continuously increasing sales... but our homes can only hold so much, and our earth's resources (not to mention our landfills) aren't infinite either.

So next time you go shopping, do like my friend Suzanne and sing this refrain when you run into something attractive but unnecessary:

Do I need it? Or just want it?

Who convinced me that I need it, and why do I want it?

Will it make my world a better place, or will it end up taking up landfill space?

Do I need it? Or just want it?

And if you want to curse me in a cheerful sort of way, I can take it!