Dry January (consumerism edition)
I went into rapid-fire buying mode during the holidays. There were a lot of people to get gifts for, not to mention the aching memory of the year when I completely forgot about my wife’s stocking.
So, out of fear-driven generosity, I was BUY, BUY, BUYing for several weeks, and this left me with an itchy Amazon finger, even after the holidays had wrapped. I bought the stuff I’d wanted for myself but didn’t get. I impulse-bought a bunch of other stuff the moment I felt the desire. As the boxes arrived and the cardboard recycling piled up, I felt increasingly gross. I had to cut myself off.
I heard about a lot of people doing Dry January with booze. While I enjoy alcohol and occasionally over-indulge, it’s not a vice for me. But I do have my vices, and one of them is buying shit. For me, then, it’s a Dry-Amazon January: no more buying anything I don’t need, and if I legitimately do need something — like some threadlock for my son's new bike, I discovered yesterday after his kickstand almost fell off mid-ride — I have to try to buy it from a brick and mortar.
I've been at it for around 10 days, and it feels good, like a proper detox.