Filling a Void
Affluenza is a term used by critics of consumerism. It is formed by the contraction of affluence and influenza.
affluenza, n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth
I find it interesting that when people find something lacking in their life, they many times try to fill it with material things. This is one thing that I noticed many years ago while I was coming out. Retail therapy was the answer to breaking up with your boyfriend/girlfriend, losing your job or a horrendous visit with your family who don’t much like that you are gay. I don’t know if I noticed that more back then because of the people I was with or the era that I was growing up in. But it was something, even then, that made me wonder.
Now that I am older I find that retail therapy isn’t the answer to everything, and there are alternatives to spending money and causing yourself undue shopping guilt or debt.
Here are some Alternatives to Shopping
Go for a Picnic
Walk/Exercise
Phone a friend
Hike
Watch the Clouds/Stars
Volunteer
Learn another language
Learn to fix your own car
Go to the Library
Learn a musical instrument
Join a Choir
Just start Drawing/doodlin
Start painting
Become politically active
Join a Club
Clean your home
Garden
Meditate
Write a Journal
Do Nothing — Just sit and think
The wiki on Affluenza has some good external links as well as other resources that can assist you.
“Retail therapy” is what gets so many in credit card debt. Watch any show about personal finance (ie- Suze Orman, etc) and you’ll see folks who tried to find self worth in what went in the shopping bag. Guess what?!? It ain’t never gonna come from there!
Being true to who we are inside, finding what really makes our spirit sing- these are what will help us find our sense of worth in the world. There will always be someone with more in their shopping bag, more bling, etc out there- but no one else just like someone who is true to their soul.