Blog Writing Challenge Day 4 - Quotable quote... Why it speaks to me right now

I missed yesterday, but hey ho, I’ll just pick up where I left off.........

This quote is from Arthur Buchwald(October 20, 1925 – January 17, 2007), (who I’d actually never heard of - oops!) an American comedian who also used to write for the Washington Post. 

I think it’s all very appropriate at the moment with plastic pollution being once again headline news, and the way that everyone (ok, not “EVERYONE” but perhaps “MOST”) seems to just keep buying stuff!

Sometimes I think we all just need to stop and look around us at all the richness that we have in our lives. I don’t earn anywhere near what your average educated person would probably class as a good salary. I even get a small amount of money each week from the government because officially I’m on a low income, but there’s no way that I’d class myself as poor. 

I guess, I don’t “need” to earn a lot because I don’t really spend much. I can’t remember the last time I went into a shop and bought myself something new to wear. Most of what’s available on the high street is just a bit too ordinary and Charity shops are much more fun, as you never know what you might find! This summer we had a fantastic holiday to Spain and France, that for us, was pretty costly, so next year we’ll be camping, but I know that what we spent on all of out train tickets and accommodation was nowhere near what many would spend several times every year. I bet we had just as much, if not more fun though! Also, we fix stuff (or at least we try to fix stuff) when it breaks and as I type this, my partner Nate has our bread maker in bits on the kitchen table!

But this isn’t really just about shopping and earnings, its about appreciating what we have around us. I’m in the wedding business, which is just a crazy place when it comes to “things”, and I often see stories on social media from couples asking questions like “what is an acceptable wedding budget” or “how much should I be spending on this”, and yeah, if money is no object, then by all means, book those 3 different photo booths, pony rides for all the children, 2 bottle of champagne per person, a 17 tier cake etc etc, but none of those things are really important. Even the official piece if paper isn’t important if it means that you cant afford to pay the rent, but sometimes I think we forget all that and get carried away with what other people might class as “proper” or the “right way”.

So, this quote, to me anyway, is saying ignore all of the peer pressure to own certain things, to drive the right car, wear the right shoes, have a tv screen that fills an entire wall of your house. None of those  things “really” matter. Health and happiness is what matters, and if we all start to worry less about all the things that we “should” own, and just “buy less stuff” then maybe at the same time we’ll be helping to try and ensure that we still have a planet to be healthy and happy on.  X

I found out about this challenge from Ijeoma of teh Etsy Conversations Podcast. Here’s the link to her blog (which is much more professionally written than mine!) https://justhalfanhour.wordpress.com/