Have you ever watched the show Shark Tank? It's basically a reality show where people present a product they have created to a panel of wealthy business owners who decide if they feel like investing their money into that idea to form a partnership. It's fun television! You find yourself sitting there saying, "I've thought of that before!" or "Why didn't I think of that?". It fills you with wonder at the idea you could invent something that everyone wants and become an overnight success. Granted- most of the people presenting have been struggling to make a successful business prior to appearing on the show. They have countless hours, and sometimes an obscene amount of their own money already invested. But Shark Tank does a good job of giving you a bite size piece of the info, making it feel like anyone could do this and become rich if the right people believe in your unique idea.
As our family has been traveling across America, I have found myself in those long car rides contemplating on if we were learning anything from our travels that could be productized to make other people's lives better. Not necessarily to become rich (although that would be nice), but more because this has been such an amazing experience so far, it would be fun to continue it in some way when we return home. The problem is that this flies in the face of minimalism and being caretakers of the land.
If there is anything one thing I have learned on this trip, it's that we don't need things. We each have been living out of a single suitcase for seven weeks now. We've been able to make do with the things we originally packed just fine. It's definitely a transition from the routine of buying things for your household, constantly shopping for things you can purchase to make your life easier in your home, and of course shopping for pleasure. We have no room for pleasure items in our little car, and obviously aren't running a household right now.
It's been freeing in most ways but for the first few weeks it definitely made me feel like I was forgetting to do something. I would find myself browsing through Amazon or Pinterest for purchase items late at night and eventually closing the app when I reminded myself I couldn't buy it even if I wanted to. It felt like a hole in my life, if for no reason more than it used to be a comfort I used to fill my free time.
What is addiction?
If you look up what a behavioral or process addiction is, it immediately jumps to something along the lines of... It's an addiction if it affects your life in a negative way. So is consumerism an addiction if there are no negative side affects of your actions? I would argue yes. It's nearly impossible to buy nothing for the rest of your life. Eventually you'll need toilet paper, or laundry soap, or new shoes. So where is the line in the sand? I feel like I've found it on this trip.
When you are going through the actions of shopping, even when you know you're not going to make a purchase, I would lean towards it being an addiction. I've been on a minimalism journey for the last year or so now. I've cut my spending down to practically nothing, but still find myself having the urge to shop in the quiet moments of my life even when I walk away from making the purchase. Because an addition is never "cured". It can be repressed but you will be fighting it every day for the rest of your life. It's so easy to fall back into old routines that made you feel safe, comfortable, or happy.
So why does this all matter?
I think humans as a whole like to have pretty things that make them happy. The acquisition of a spouse, of a job, or even of an object can be equally thrilling. They all give you the momentary happiness we all seek. But the quantity of products we create, the raping of the land to collect the necessary resources for manufacturing, and the garbage we throw back into our beautiful earth for this momentary happiness will never be worth the price we are paying.
I grew up with a simple phrase that always lives in the back of my mind. "We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."
Think about that. Say it out loud. Read it again. We need to live for more than ourselves. It is our duty to make good decisions today so our future generations have a fighting chance at living a life as good or better than ours.
So... no... I'm not going to invent some cool new gadget that momentarily makes someone happy. I will continue to battle my own consumerism tendencies every day and fight to stop myself from shopping for non essential items. I'm going to continue down this path of leaving no footprint. Because at the end of the day, leaving no mark is the biggest individual impact I can contribute.
But it doesn't quite have the same ring in the future obituary my kids will write for me. "Today we lay to rest Krystal Stone, our mother who wouldn't let us buy anything fun while we traveled across America..."
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