I spent a couple of hours in a mall in Florida earlier this week, and I feel I have lost a little piece of my soul and I will never get it back. It was a cold rainy day and the entire state of Florida was wandering in a lifeless stupor from outlet store to outlet store, empty-handed for the most part (which added to my sense of the futility of it all). To be fair, I was there too… so, what does that say about me?
Shopping is not a lifestyle. I like clothes, I like things as much as the next person, and, yes, I do like to shop. But this part of me is constantly at war with another part of me that recognizes that there is no real joy to be found there. And not to become dreary and maudlin (and horribly dull), but often to me shopping seems to me rather like a poor tactic if your objective is to stave off the ultimate ennui of existence. The sense of accomplishment is so fleeting. And it’s the excess that really hurts. Outlet malls are notorious for their excess. Piles and piles of yoga wear, ‘cardis’, cage shoes and skinny jeans, bedding and kitchen accessories—all of which will ultimately end up in landfill, tossed aside like last year’s, um, boyfriend jeans. Who needs all this STUFF? It just seems so, well, pointless.
Yet, on I trudge with the rest of the bored and irritable masses.
Because, of course, in addition to the rational voice and the intellectual voice, there’s yet another voice echoing in my head. (These are not real voices by the way in case your hand is on the phone) This voice suggests I stop taking myself so seriously and lighten up for god’s sake. And so I did. Take myself less seriously, that is.
At any rate, when I got home, I had to sit down and read a book (a good meaty piece of fiction with big words and big ideas). You know, just to balance the universe again.
My little corner of it, anyway.
Yeah, for some reason I found it soul destroying, too, but at least I had my camera: http://ourdoings.com/davidsky/2010-02-27
Posted by: David S. ( @seemsartless ) | 03/01/2010 at 11:00 PM