Sixteen Wishes: #9 of 16
"Beware of consumerism."
On her 16th birthday (December 20th, 2016), I gave my daughter Libby a collection of sixteen custom-printed cards instead of a conventional, store-bought card. Each one detailing a hard-earned conviction I’d hoped to pass on to her—convictions passed on to me by some amazing role models I’d met during the first 60 years of my life. I know. This is SUCH a dad thing to do! But my motivation was simple, driven by an ever-present thought: “If I died tomorrow, what would I leave behind for Libby that might help her live the best life possible?” The motivation in passing them on to you is to start a conversation. What are your convictions, beliefs, values? What strongly held ideas do you fall back on to live your best life possible? Let me know! Just click on the leave-a-comment box at the end of this post…
In that “consumerism” is pretty much the backbone of the global economy, maybe I should’ve said: “Beware of excessive consumerism.”
Unfortunately, these days, the system is rigged to stimulate excessiveness with every swipe and scroll (“You may also like…”, unboxing videos, one-click buying, fake reviews, FOMO, the explosion of influencer marketing, Black Fridays, Cyber Mondays, etc.).
From Investopedia: “Consumerism is the propensity to consume and keep consuming. It is the drive to buy and own more stuff and to define one's identity through what they own.”
I guess I just wanted to Libby to define her identity in a more substantial, non-materialistic way?
Next time, #10: “Save more than you spend.”
Thank you, as always, for your readership, support and engagement! 🙏
Peace & Love,
Mark
P.S. A big shout-out to my good buddy Martin Corbin, the very talented graphic designer who helped me create Libby’s cards and the lovely keepsake package to house them (complete with fancy wax seal).
Well Mark, I’m gonna have to argue with you on this one, on this premise: you’re going to take all these wishes and you’re going to revise them, preparing to hand them down to a grandchild or maybe to collecting them in a book. And this one needs to be better. “Consumerism” isn’t really something you can look out for. It’s a broad word for a general trend. But what you can look out for is the way people who want you to buy things try to persuade you, and then make up your own mind. Maybe this one is “Make Up Your Own Mind,” or “Beware the Sales Pitch.” Something more concrete and do-able. For the revised edition, of course. 😁
Totally digging the Libby List, Mark!