Are You Crazy????

Well actually, no, no we're not. It could be argued we lean more toward crazy than normal, but then who doesn't? 

You would think though, given some peoples responses to our little project, that we were raving lunatics complete with cats and all! And we've only told a few family and friends who will need an explanation as to why dinner will be at our place or theirs for a year!

I'm still not sure what to make of their responses. We knew it would be inconvenient, especially for some friends who share our love for great food and eating it in a variety of lovely West Australian restaurants. We also knew it could potentially loose us a few brownie points when we turn up to a family birthday with a beautiful, thoughtful, however inescapably homemade present. But I didn't realise that it would immediately get people offside. 

To be truthful we knew it might be hard to not buy anything for a year, but we never actually thought of it as a massive deal. We wouldn't have considered it if we thought we couldn't achieve what we set out to do.

I think some peoples less than warm responses may come down to not fully understanding our motives. So to set the record straight: We don't think that by not buying anything for a year that somehow we are going to make ourselves better people, in fact I'd argue we're not bad people already. We also know we aren’t going to save the world or rid the world of capitalism (and to perfectly honest I quite like the latter). And we definitely do not think we are better than people who will buy things this year.

Our motives are twofold: Firstly to see if we can actually forgo everything other than necessities for a year, and still maintain relationships with our friends, family and community. Secondly, it is to examine and understand why it is we consume the way we do, and what it is that drives us. Not buying goes against my very nature and for that reason its fair game to see what my nature is governed by.

I have a suspicion however that what actually comes out of this project may not be what we set out to discover, as is the way with life.

So its day two. 

So far what I have learned is not one bit philosophical or amazingly insightful, but it is important all the same. So it works out that if you want any chance of not buying anything when you go out, make sure you have 15 cold water bottles in the car and you have had a massive lunch. After a call from our friends yesterday afternoon we jumped in the car to meet them at the beach. Half way there Dave mentions how hungry he is. Despite my cheerful suggestion that he could pretend to eat and imagine being full he was still very very hungry.

After a swim and negotiating the validity of it we settled and bought some crackers and dip from the grocery store. Its still completely undecided as to whether this is in or out of the rules, but I did begin to get hungry myself. I am guessing there are going to be numerous negotiations like this one. Given that I really wanted the hot salty chips bought from the pretty shop across the road this seemed a fair alternative, and it did come from IGA after all?

As we watched the sun go down last night I wondered whether on the first day of next year we will be giving a silent cheer for having done something 'different' for the year, or whether we'd be intensely counting down the minutes until the shops were open and we could live in purchase paradise again.

T Minus 4 hours

So it begins. A new project. A  new life project.

I can not claim any credit for the concept and idea behind this project; in fact it originated with, and has been done by someone far cleverer, socially and politically savvy than little old me. The concept however is exciting and challenging and will be one part of 2011 for us.

Like so many things in life, the book that is the foundation for this project came along at exactly the right time. As I listened to various people and read numerous facebook posts in the lead up to Christmas it was obvious just how much the season has become about over spending and over eating with an undercurrent of stress and tension. For many people it has become a ‘consuming’ season.

Consuming food, consuming presents, consuming us.

 Most of all, it began consuming me. The amazing and beautiful story that is the reason for the celebration started to become blurry in the midst of sparkly Christmas lights, pretty paper and the carousel parking lot I became all too well familiar with.

The book in question came to visit my house after I stumbled across it while foraging for books on a trip to the local library. The book:  Not Buying It by Judith Levine. This book landed on my lap and as I began reading, it quickly became apparent that it was a little bit more amazing than the norm. Dave (my husband) has since had endure constant interruptions as in my delight I read and re-read each of my favourite sections to him. The book is now 2 weeks overdue.

In the book the author and her partner forgo everything other than life necessities for one WHOLE year.  In one moment my attention was captured by a woman who was not preaching simplicity and of changing the world, but trialling a buy nothing year and all the while examining herself and society, as her journey unfolded. And for every moment I read her story a passion to just see what it would be like, not to imagine but to truly know, was unleashed.

And alas this is our project.

From tomorrow we will not buy anything that is not a necessity for a year. No more meals out. No more new dresses. No more movies. For one year we will buy only what we need to survive. Scary stuff. Especially given that we are the classic generation Y’s who have never blinked at buying a cup of coffee or buying that ‘something’ for no particular reason.

I am scared. Not so much of doing without this thing or that, as I know that we have plenty more than we need. But scared that I will not be able to do without the thrill of buying something and taking it home as ‘mine.’ I am scared of just what I will discover about why I do what I do, and how doing this little ‘project’ may just change my view on consuming.

And now I’m off to enjoy the fruits of my consumption, a perfectly gorgeous dress, to make some lovely new year’s resolutions which may or may not last til Thursday, and to forget about tomorrow and what my new year may hold.