Retail "Therapy"

The Oxford Dictionary defines the word “Therapy” as meaning: Treatment intended to heal or relieve a disorder.

Chemotherapy attempts to kill cancer.

Physical therapy helps people after surgery or an accident.

Speech therapy aids those with speaking issues.  

Retail therapy serves to empty our wallets and fill our lives with crap.  

By spending money, what salve is being applied to what unspeakable ailment?  A sacred Balm of Gilead to heal what wounds?  

So where did the concept of Retail Therapy come from and who convinced us of its necessity?

According to Wikipedia (Yes, a professor of English citing Wikipedia in a piece... ye gods!), the term "Retail Therapy" first appeared in 1986 in the Chicago Tribune newspaper.  "We've become a nation measuring out our lives in shopping bags and nursing our psychic ills through retail therapy."

The era of conspicuous consumption.  Of big shoulder pads and bigger egos.  

Though fashions and times may have changed, I daresay our desire to acquire has only grown more voracious and desperate.  

We have been thoroughly bamboozled by retailers who have convinced us that what we own is not enough.  Not new enough.  Not good enough.  We should not be satisfied until we have replaced or added-on to the point that we are the point of envy.

For me, accumulation has been a long-standing issue.  This issue has not been helped by four years spent working for retailers who sell things I love and can easily fall prey to.  I love cooking and baking and have for a long time.  

Granted, some things were necessary.  Matt would agree on that point.  We needed new dishes.  We have them now, able to serve 16 people, which is about the largest group we can seat at table for a big, big dinner.  Add-on stemware and barware to match.  And flatware.  And linens.  Suddenly, you can see how this spirals out of control.

I'm sure that I'd be absolutely appalled if I could see the amount of money I've spent in the four years I worked for SLT and W-S.  Money that could have been saved or paid onto student loans.  Money that could have been put towards a car or a vacation.  Real, tangible greenbacks that are made somehow less impactful due to the fact that they are invisble and whisked away by a plastic credit or debit card.

Our world-view of what is needed versus what is wanted has been so poisoned by advertisers, planned obsolescence, and our own fickle desires that I don't know if there's a way back.

For me and my part, I'm attempting a retail detox this month.  Today is day two.  Whenever a retailer is contacting me via email, I'm either completely unsubscribing or reducing their emails dramatically.  Same goes for the companies I've liked on Facebook.  

I've even gone into my browser bookmarks and removed those quick-clicks that led to so much wasted time and which planted the seeds of desire for so much of the useless stuff that wants to be brought into our lives.  

It's not so much the classic image of monkeys covering eyes, ears, and mouth.  This is a more active, positive quest to free myself of these poisons and those who feed them into our lives.  

No malls, no browsing, no such activity.  

Today is day two.