Would you like everything?

I mean it; would you like to be able to buy, consume everything you want? Why not? We are bombarded from all directions by people keen to tell us we are living in a consumer age. The government even suggests that we can support our struggling economy by purchasing stuff. Shop local and we re-invigorate St Helier and breathe new life into retail right across the Island. It sounds like a win-win scenario: we can buy everything we want and society is enriched and generally a good deal happier. Is there really no downside to this?

Well, yes there is. Actually it can be quite a large downside that is the beginning of a chain with the power to bring sleeplessness, anxiety and depression. Let’s take a step back. Did you follow the events of Black Friday, the day of pure consumerism and materialism that welcomes the American Thanks Giving holiday? I was struck by a short interview with a man in London holding onto his very wide screen television with the grip of Samson himself. He was asked why he had struggled so hard to secure the discount booty. His response was telling. Said through a laugh he admitted he had no idea. His family had wide screen televisions in all their rooms. Then he paused and said: ‘I guess because there was a queue and it was so cheap. I had to get it no matter what’.

Research shows that whilst we continue to chase these seemingly pointless materialistic conquests no concurrent benefits have been found for our sense of well-being. In fact the reverse may well be the truth. A never ending pursuit of ‘things’ we do not need, that clutter up our lives and deliver only short periods of pleasure, feeds a sense of disappointment. An objective that always remains out of reach to buy our way happy. Whilst materialism can drive us to mental unhappiness it can also hide low self-esteem and a lack of self-worth. We seek solutions to these in the ring of tills with little hope of success.

Next time you are confronted by a seemingly irresistible bargain consider this: what is my reason for buying it? Pleasure, need, the joy of giving or something else? If we can understand that we are one small step closer to the mental health we deserve.  

This article first appeared in Gallery Magazine.