Consumer culture is incredibly prevalent in the U.S., so much so that we often assume automatically that more is better. We are encouraged to spend our time, energy, and financial resources on accumulating more and more material possessions, while also continuously being dissatisfied so that we keep buying and consuming
In August, my husband Will and I went on a cruise with my parents. These family trips used to be a tradition (happening about every other year), but because of personal schedules and the pandemic, we hadn’t been on a trip together in five years. On our last trip five
It’s no secret that businesses and consumer culture use all sorts of tactics to get us to buy more stuff. We see a lot of these tactics in advertisements and how consumer culture functions– appealing to our base needs, manufacturing a sense of urgency, and perpetuating a sense of dissatisfaction
It’s easy to get into the habit of thinking about life and the events happening around you in very specific ways. We cling to tried-and-true thought processes because it’s easier than expending more thought energy to think in a different way. But living more simply as a Christian minimalist means
A few years ago, attorney Albert Hessberg III (brother-in-law to famous singer/songwriter James Taylor) was disbarred and sentenced to five years and eight months in prison for stealing over two million dollars from his clients. What’s so fascinating about Hessberg is that no one really understands why he felt the
A few years ago, I took intentional steps to break my addiction to online shopping. When I was going through that process, I peeled back the layers of why I became addicted in the first place. I discovered that– at core of it– my issue was discontent. Contentment and Consumer
Imagine: you’re in the checkout line, and you see something small and inexpensive on display. Without thinking, you grab it and buy it. It’s cheap, it’s quick, and it’s easy to grab and add to your purchases. If it’s a consumable, you pop it in your mouth right after you
Moving from one home to another can bring up a lot of emotions, and it’s typically the case that many of those emotions are not ones that feel good. But as my husband Will and I prepare to move from New York City to Upstate New York, there is one
My husband Will and I recently went to see the musical Hadestown, based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus, a talented musician, and Eurydice fall in love, but Eurydice soon dies from a snakebite. Orpheus travels to the Underworld and convinces Hades, the ruler of the Underworld,
In the United States, there is a wide range of acceptable price ranges for goods and services. For example, I live in Manhattan in New York City, which is the second-most expensive city in the U.S. When you live, work, and play in New York City, you know that– for