When we think about the concept of consumerism and living in a consumerist culture we often default to the idea of accumulating stuff.

 

Interestingly enough, when I was writing my recent post about buying my way to my future fantasy self, it wasn’t stuff I was consuming – it was information.

It was “investing” in my future self.

 

There is a much much deeper issue here.

It’s about relationship – specifically our relationship to ourselves and how that extends to our relationship with the external world.

 

Consumerism is driven by our attempts to fulfil a deeper hunger. It’s the quick fix to placate our soul aching desires, rather than truly claim them, and embody them.

Ironically even the entire coaching industry is fueled by this constant churning of information to be constantly consumed at a break neck speed, only to never be actually embodied or put into the litmus test of real life.

 

We see this everywhere from the people teaching the material, to the participants wanting someone to just tell them what to do.

Either way, we are fooling ourselves if we believe our own lies – that somehow there is a shortcut to learning, integrating, digesting through the art of experience.

 

Embodiment of knowledge, experience and the real knowing of the thing at the cellular level takes time, patience. It’s not the easy path. It’s slow and often convoluted. It often takes us to our most vulnerable places. It’s scary as fuck.

 

Recently in re-reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Mari Kondo (while in process of my 3rd Spark Joy cleanse in my lifetime thus far), I was at a full stop when I re-read her guidance around keeping “papers”.

“If the content is not put into practice, such courses are meaningless. A seminar’s value begins the moment we start attending, and the key to extracting the full value is putting what we learn there into practice the moment the course ends.”

 

As I read this I imagined a room full of people learning, slowly – fully engaged and present.

Their nervous systems taking in what was needed and allowing the rest to just be.

They are not frantically taking notes, nor hungrily grasping at more handouts, diagrams, and course materials.

They let their system sit with what it needs for now.

They give themselves time to digest, and slowly start to integrate whatever key ignition resonated in their system.

 

Can you imagine what our society would look like if we learned with our whole bodies? Our whole beings?

 

Consumerism is just a reflection of a state of our being as a society.

We live in survival mode.

We deprive ourselves of deep nourishment in exchange for substitutions of love and acceptance.

We have convinced ourselves that the real thing is either unattainable, unsafe, or will vanish if we speak its name aloud.

 

Simply put, consumerism is a product of our disembodiment.

It is a consequence of living in a culture where we do not honour our nature as Creatures, as animal beings.

And with this, we dishonour the gifts of the feminine, and also the masculine.

 

We live in a society that devalues slowness, the non-linear, creativity.

We take our creative potential and pimp it, pump it, spin it into production, production, production.

Pumping out “content”.

Scrolling endless “content”.

To produce is our purpose.

To consume will bring us some future satisfaction.

 

Is that really true?

 

At the same time, we fantasize about a “simpler life”, or go on vacations to escape the reality the life we’ve created – often bringing our hurried push, push, push state of being along for the ride.

 

We cannot buy ourselves out of our discomfort.

We cannot simply escape the habit of how we are being through the way we got there in the first place.

The way out is through the experience of the thing.

There are no tricks, or “tools” we can buy.

We already have the thing we are looking for.

We are designed for this life.

We are designed to hold and be with our deepest hungers – the buried treasure of our desire.

We already have the thing we are looking for.

 

It’s not easy to detangle oneself from the seduction of illusion.

But the thing is the practice of it.

A couple of years ago I decided to opt out in marketing my business in any way that felt like I was tapping into scarcity, lack, or fear based tactics.

I resigned from manipulating others in this way – even though that’s the success formula that so many coaches, businesses, and practically everyone subscribes to. Because it works!

I also resigned from making decisions based in this energy myself.

I decided I would no longer buy something (or sign up for a course or program or buy a book) because there was a time restraint or “only 1 spot left!” or because of a discount.

I started to discern at a cellular level, what was for me – and what wasn’t. I started to say no thank you to offers and purchases that triggered contraction, fear of missing out, and didn’t authentically speak to true delight, satisfaction, and my wholeness.

I started discarding downloads and e-books and recordings I will never listen to, never read.

I do not need to consume all of this stuff.

I can trust my body.

I can trust my system.

I can trust that I am inherently enough.

 

It’s a slow process and it’s a conscious effort I put in every moment of every day.

It’s a recognition of every time my system feels that contraction of scarcity driving the impulse, and slowing down enough to be with my tender self.

 

But it’s worth it.

 

It’s worth cultivating authentic enjoyment, satisfaction.

It’s worth feeling truly nourished.

It’s worth embodying the comfort and pleasure of being free in my own skin, in my own flesh and bones.