This is a daily occurrence. I know all savvy advice recommends that you unsubscribe to every blog or email service that would proclaim such things to you - but you really see it everywhere, every day in some form or another anyway. (Also, I quite like Refinery 29 otherwise.)
(this one was more amusing than enticing)
And the sad thing is, sometimes I do look at that content. I want to know what, exactly, I'm miraculously living without. I want to know what others think is "worth" splurging on. It makes me curious and I look. And even if I frame it as an anthropological experiment, half the times I consider something they are promoting hyperbolically.
Pathetically, it's more challenging than I usually admit to be true to my own needs and to keep track of my wants - so that I might buy the things I love most, instead of a pair of kelly green rain boots that are on someone's WORTH SPLURGING ON list.
What is it that I:
need,
will love,
will use,
think is made with good values,
think is low impact,
know is in line with my budget
?
And the key word there is I. I know we are all exposed to so much daily, and are influenced by so much, that it's impossible to have taste and values unaffected by others. But it's truly a struggle to find a middle road and I'm influenced by others more than I care to admit - or probably realize. And sometimes I just need to remember that.
God. How have I been living without a luxury sleep mask. Tying a bandana over your eyes, execution style, is for poor people! (This is what I was writing when your message came in.)
ReplyDeleteI'm getting so fed up with all the email alerts and pop-ups and pushes to consume, too... I can shop on my own, damnit! Or not!
ReplyDeleteI am easily influenced as well, but it's countered by my severe frugality. I hate spending money. I don't just not like it, I hate it. I also hate advertisements. I would make a horrible ad man. I work retail and lately it seems that people want me to tell them what to buy and I get so friggin uncomfortable. Get what you like or get nothing at all, I personally don't care! Now, a really cute outfit on my favorite blog that highlights a pair of shoes or a watch, those make me go for the website. I still probably won't buy the item, but it gets me thinking about it more...
ReplyDeleteI too read and like Refinery29 and had similar eye roll at this particular past.
ReplyDeleteThe push-to-buy that particularly rankle me are by "beauty" companies that identify (i.e. create) an aesthetic "problem" that I must solve by purchasing their new product.
So true! I just had a baby, and I still feel influenced by things I "must have" to survive, look chic, or have because it's one of the "basics" - then I feel immediately guilty. Then again, every once in awhile - "must haves" sure make a girl feel good.
ReplyDelete