In contrast, he noted that this season people feel like company alone is inadequate and they need to show up with armloads of gifts. “Last Christmas everyone wished they could just be together that would have been more than enough,” he said. MacKinnon is eager for people to shift back to the mindset that it’s enough to spend time together and concentrate on making that time a rich experience. This Thanksgiving, her family is intentionally choosing experiences over things by traveling to camp out and watch the sunrise over the sand dunes in Utah. Given that she has five children, Lint noted that material items get overwhelming quickly.
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“Last year forced us to opt out of the traditional Thanksgiving thing and got us thinking this year about how we actually wanted to spend those four days off together,” wrote Kaci Lint of Mesa, Arizona. We bought tickets to a nature walk/light show at Crystal Bridges, which is an art museum near us,” shared Liz Fernandez of Fayetteville, Arkansas.Įvidence for non-consumerist holiday contentment may come from your own memories. “My parents are in town for Thanksgiving this year. Others shared that they are getting into the holiday spirit through activities such as Christmas tree trimming and experiences like “The Nutcracker” at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Indeed, many people shared that they were bypassing Black Friday shopping and opting for connection time in the form of hikes with family or friends, epic games of tag, pickleball, tennis, cycling, or relaxed time at home. When we reinvest in relationships and experiences, we create new energy and new meaning and it becomes transcendent,” Lembke said.
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“If we really turn towards our lives everything becomes more interesting. “A potential antidote is to do the opposite and deeply immerse ourselves in our lives.” Overconsumption can result from people trying to escape their circumstances, a tactic that is understandable but ultimately doesn’t work, Lembke noted. Support smaller scale businesses, particularly ones that don’t have shareholders to answer to … when you spend your money, spend it in your local community thoughtfully on products that will be meaningful to you or whoever you are giving to.”Ĭounteract overconsumption with people and experiences “There are definitely better and worse ways to consume. MacKinnon agreed that all spending is not created equal. “My pandemic hobby is knitting so everyone is getting ornate hand-knit items!” wrote Anna Brakeman of Madison, Wisconsin. Others shared that they were focused on supporting local businesses, independent sellers on Etsy, or putting their maker skills to use. “I’m going to source the majority, if not all, gifts for the kids from my local Buy Nothing Facebook group, as well as secondhand stores.” Many people shared that they were choosing different ways to shop this holiday season.Ĭarolyn Kornwitz of Boston wrote that she is opting out of Black Friday and any sale shopping altogether. I recently asked on Instagram Stories whether people were opting out of Black Friday shopping and if they were doing something else instead.
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If you are looking for a different tribe, an intention-based shopping herd exists. She noted that these primitive brain circuits can get in the way of the prefrontal cortex’s ability to make rational decisions, such as realizing you can’t afford to spend the money you are spending. “That feeling of oneness or immersion is a huge source of dopamine and also serotonin,” Lembke said. Lembke, who refers to smartphones as the modern-day hypodermic needle that delivers digital dopamine 24/7, noted that when people feel they belong to a tribe and share experiences and emotions with other people, dopamine is released. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author of “Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence.” “One thing about Black Friday that makes it even more pernicious is that not only can shopping release dopamine in the brain’s reward pathways - hence becoming potentially addictive - it also manipulates the social herd source of dopamine,” shared Dr. If you are feeling bad about compulsive spending habits, you are not alone. There may be financial circumstances that drive a person’s need to make purchases on big sale days, but if you experience the financial freedom that allows you to spend, you might even be happier if you don’t buy anything on Black Friday. It’s almost as though it limits our freedoms to choose how we want to live and determines what our social role will be.” “We have created a system that is dependent on us acting as consumers. The pandemic revealed how vulnerable our economic system is to any kind of disturbance in people’s appetite to shop, MacKinnon noted.