This was the biggest struggle of my life. I gave up alcohol, drugs, toxic men, self harm, etc.. but compulsive spending addiction had been the cockroach that has survived everything. Thank you for speaking about this, because it is a serious issue that is never discussed with care and compassion.

@shawnaripari

7 ай бұрын

thank you so much for sharing I appreciate hearing about your experience as I can relate. I had other strategies alongside shopping that I managed to ditch but shopping remained for a long time. I have two videos coming this month that might be of interest to you as they talk more in-depth about these topics.

@lizziebkennedy7505

7 ай бұрын

Yes!

Something I've been thinking about lately is how all these aesthetics are trying to recapture something from an earlier time, but back then (even y2k) people were NOT. SHOPPING. LIKE THIS. Real style and real subcultures come from working with what you have!

I started a no-buy in Sept. when my rent doubled (by my own choice). Part of it was to save money but a big part of it was that I realized how much of my life was taken up by consumption. I cared about sustainability so I was only shopping at thrift stores, but there would be times that I brought in a "thrift haul" and then didn't go through the work to remove the tags, wash items, etc. for over a week after acquiring them because it was exhausting. I'll clean my room and overnight it's messy again because I just have too much stuff packed into too small of spaces. I decided I needed to start focusing on enjoying what I already had rather than always looking to acquire more. Having that margin has let me finally organize my craft space after over a year of it being borderline unusable, and now I'm able to get back into some of my hobbies. Overconsumption is so encouraged in this society and even if you're not overconsuming in the traditional spaces that focus on always getting more things really does wear you down. Thanks for the video!

I have been asking myself lately, “how do I need to invest in this?” And it’s been a game changer. It’s almost always time, not money. Sometimes it’s effort/focus instead of time. Examples: -Learning Japanese: Reading & doing sentence review 2+ hours every day has skyrocketed my Japanese skills. One non-fiction book lasts me 1+ months. I didn’t need more tools or better strategies, just more time every day. -Drawing & Fine art: I needed to spend less time painting and drawing, and actually have laser focus while I was doing it. Perfect practice makes perfect, but grinding 9 hours straight just makes me exhausted, sloppy and burnt out. New paints or more time wouldn’t have fixed the problem. -Fitness: I needed to invest money in winter running equipment or an indoor subscription once it got cold and my running habit dropped off. I set aside $100 to get winter running gear, then I needed to invest time and effort into running. I felt confident about spending the $80 I ended up spending because it was clearly necessary to get back to “doing the work.” I guess it also really comes down to focusing on and romanticizing “doing the work” rather than the “preparing to do the work” stage or just “shopping for the work” 😂

This is such an interesting video, please make more videos like this that touch upon our drive to buy our way to a sense of ‘completeness’, as the quote put it. This topic is perhaps at the center of consumerism as it could be a consequence (or cause) of a lack of a deeper life purpose, or a even some sort of spiritual foundation. We’re losing real communities that share common fundamental values so we go seeking this in consumerist micro trends and fashion/ style subgroups. Humans are social creatures that rely on community acceptance as well as some level of conformity. There is one point I’d like to add however- we ourselves are material, tangible beings existing in a physical tangible world so it’s only natural for us to express ourselves in a material way. Humans have been building intricate buildings, ornaments, creating art and gift giving since the beginning of time. We create and draw symbols for our beliefs and thoughts which is yet another example of our need to express ourselves in the material world either with what we possess or create.. We can’t escape this, therefore a more useful consideration would be to find more meaningful ways to present and express ourselves other than following the ever changing trends that corporations set for us to follow in order to profit from us.

@shawnaripari

7 ай бұрын

this is an excellent point and I'm so glad you brought it up. Thank you!

@2headed

6 ай бұрын

I wholeheartedly agree with the humans and material observation. But marketing for the sake of capitalism heavily exploits this. And with social media being a direct and tailored analysis of our psyche, this is made all the more insidious.

I've been binge-watching videos on minimalism/ shopping addiction/ learning to be content with what you already have, and your videos are among my favorites. I really appreciate how open and honest you are about your own struggles. So much of what you say resonates very deeply with me ❤

@shawnaripari

6 ай бұрын

this is so kind, thank you!

“Symbolic self-completion theory argues that people ‘seek to acquire and display symbols that are strongly related to every the perceive as the ideal self.’” I think it’s interesting to note that those symbols can be as much what you have as what you don’t have - for example it might be your stash of clothes and makeup in a maximalist walk-in closet dressing room, but it could equally be the one or two items displayed on a minimalist’s work station in their home. The open, empty spaces for the minimalist are quite often just as potent symbols as the “consumerist” objects in someone else’s home. Edit: oh, you touched on this! I’m so glad! 🙂

I wonder if gen z knows what scene kids are 😅 I definitely wanted to be part of that crowd but never felt my hair or makeup matched the aesthetic. Ive seen the same thing in the witchcraft/spirituality community. Had to learn the hard way you dont need a whole bunch of shit to practice these things.

@shawnaripari

7 ай бұрын

do not make me feel old over here 😂 I tried SO HARD back in the day. I went to beauty supply store and got hair extensions and everything so I could have the quintessential scene girl hair with all the layers on top and the long bottom. I hope you know what I mean. It was definitely a time.

@rayeof_light

7 ай бұрын

@shawnaripari I know exactly what you mean 😅🤣 it really was so cool. I feel like Gen z is aware of the emo kid trend but scene kids IMO were a particular subgroup and looked a bit different haha and were like the ultimate cool kids

@shawnaripari

7 ай бұрын

We definitely thought we were 😂😂

@Desiree_Rose

7 ай бұрын

They know!! At least some. I met a 16 year old at church who looked very scene, and described her style as such....she even makes duct tape accessories lol. I say this as a 40 year old...you ex scene kids are babies😂❤️

I put my money towards animal rights. I have pages that support saving dolphins in Japan and use my money to boost my posts. I used to overspend and buy a bunch of clothes that I don’t need that just sit in my closet.

Not related to the video, but you look fantastic with a bold red lip.x

@shawnaripari

7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much ☺️

The best discussion on this topic I’ve ever heard. 🙏❤️

@shawnaripari

7 ай бұрын

Thank you!

I love your channel so much !! I have this issue where I save so much money for a period of time then something will upset me and then I blow lots of money in a short amount of time putting random stuff on my credit card, I’m stuck between stop buying random things and save and you only live once I want to get out of this mindset 😅😂

Thank you for your insights.

Yeahhh scene kids unite!!

i think this is a very important video :3

Liebe Heike, die Creme klingt echt toll. 😊👍🏻 Freut mich für dich dass du so eine tolle Kooperation hast. Wünsch dir einen schönen 2ten Advent. 🌞 Viele Grüße Tanja #herzensprojekt