The Blind Thistle

Let me repeat that- YOU are enough, just as you are.

Now, let that sink in for a minute.

You don’t need that lipstick to make you feel better. You don’t need to say Yes to whatever is asked of you. You don’t owe anyone anything. Most importantly of all just be you, do not change parts of yourself because society deems it so.

Where is all this coming from you may ask? Lately I have been reading and observing the negative effects consumerism, television and Social media have on people.

We live in a world of constant. Constant advertisements telling us we should buy their product because it will enrich your life. Constant Diet companies telling you that you must lose the weight because when you do you will look better in that dress. Feeling down? Get this medication and you will be happy and fulfilled. Don’t like your face? We can fix that for you! Snip,snip. Upgrade to this smart phone and you will never, ever be out of the loop.

You can’t escape it, it is everywhere you go. On your drive to work commercials on the radio, billboards on the highway, advertisements on the bus and subway. Turn on the TV to catch up with the news and every 5 minutes we are forced to watch endless commercials. Even Social media is bombarded with #Ad ‘s. If the promotion isn’t an “in your face” ad it’s cleverly placed in the post of your favourite accounts.

In addition to the Ad’s, there is the trend on Social Media to post glamorous photos in exotic locations. Beautiful homes with not a dust bunny in sight. Delicious, mouth watering food. Scantily clad, skinny girls who claim that they too were once overweight.

The thing I find most disturbing of all is when I log into Facebook or Instagram after I happened to google something and suddenly that very thing pops up in an advertisement! Yes, I browsed online looking at Mountain bikes but I don’t need it to pop up in my Social media feed as well! That’s just creepy. And annoying.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Instagram and Facebook, but I’ve learned to take what I see with a grain of salt. I know that almost everything I see on there is staged, prepped and modified to look it’s best. I know that carefree girl smiling on the beach had her picture taken 17 times before deciding on the perfect image. I know that picture of a stunning kitchen only looked that way for about 5 minutes before returning to it’s lived in mess. I know better than to play the comparison game. People are putting their best foot forward and showing you only what they want you to see.

Bottom line, it is up to us to filter all of this constant information. We can choose to ignore it or let it get to us.

If you find the content on your Social media overwhelming simply take a break from it, unfollow the accounts that make you feel bad and curate your own feed to reflect what makes you happy. Do not compare yourself to others! You aren’t getting the whole story.

Learn to recognize that every single advertisement out there has an entire team of people behind it who are immensely qualified in making you want their product.

The hard truth is people only need their basic needs to be met and the rest is just “icing on the cake” so speak. And we know what the icing is right? It is a treat, to be enjoyed once in awhile, but too much of it only creates problems.

Perhaps it is time to take all the “extra” stuff in our lives and purge? Maybe all the excess that we’ve accumulated over time is not serving us and should be discarded. Maybe, just maybe, we are better off with less.

Less Social media

Less clothing

Less commitment

Less comparison

Less spending

---

For the past two years I have been purging/eliminating clothes and ‘junk’ from my home as well as cleaning up my digital life (photos,emails etc…) You can read about that here. Recently I have been reading and been inspired by “The Year of Less” by Cait Flanders. Now I have decided to take on another challenge for myself. For the next 90 days I am going to limit my shopping and spending to only the basic needs and requirements.

I am not a big shopper as it is, but both the Beard and I could use some reigning in when it comes to home projects (Hello Home Depot!) gardening and a good sale. I will post updates as I go along. Wish me luck!