2011-01-30

Consumer Guilt and Blue Cushions

I'm one of those conflicted people who loves to shop but suffers from severe consumer guilt.  Every purchase is a battle between my desire to have it and my conscience telling me I don't need it - especially when there are other items which I need to buy but don't care to spend the money on (like a new toilet plunger or snow shovel).  But yesterday I had some birthday money burning a hole in my wallet which gave me the perfect excuse to brush my guilt aside and enjoy an afternoon of  shopping.  I mean, it is my birthday.  So off I headed, guilt tucked neatly away like the money in my wallet.  

To fully appreciate my dilemma, you need to understand that I have a colourless house.  Me...a visual and creative person, and my home is without colour - none whats-so-ever.  Always practical about buying items for the home (more of that consumer guilt), I've ended up with beige on beige on beige, with a bit of brown thrown in to mix things up.  Blaa blaa blaa!!!!   So, you can understand why I was craving some colour - something to spruce things up a bit - and I hope you won't judge me too harshly when I tell you I spied these gorgeous blue cushions and just had to have them, snow shovel be damned!


After I brought them home and was thrilled with how they looked, my next impulse was to get on my computer and share the joy of my purchase here on my blog.  But then my consumer guilt snuck up on me again.  I mean, really, it's just two cushions - what do they matter in the grand scheme of things?  Just how trivial and materialistic am I, blogging about new cushions while consumerism is KILLING our planet?  Talk about being shallow and superficial!  There's just no way I could ever write about the joy of buying cushions!  No way!  And then I realized, that's the whole concept of my blog - sharing trivial pleasures!  I blog about silly cartoons and meaningless curiosities!  How is any of that relevant in today's tragic world?!  And now I'm feeling even MORE guilt.  And shame.  I'm feeling ashamed.  Just what kind of person am I??!!

Luckily, I've come to my senses before writing the post.  Can you just imagine how I would come across to my readers if I went on and on about my new cushions?  How silly and shallow?  And to think, I was even going to include a photo of the matching ceramic pear I found!


19 comments:

  1. Looks to me like they were all necessary purchases because they're so damned cute! :)

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  2. Kristy, I should have known I could count on you to alieviate my guilt - what with our mutual love of wine, cooking, music, and well...wine :)

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  3. Oh wow! Please come and decorate my house...it's a mishmash of colours and styles ..you on the other hand clearly have taste. Those cushions are wonderful. Don't feel bad about consumerism (or snow shovelling) you have stylish cushions - who can feel guilty about that?
    I'm going to follow you on Google too ha how about that for stalking?
    Carol
    ps Did someone mention a love of wine? I like you even more.

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  4. Love the blue cushions!! and who wouldn't love the matching pear?
    Save the guilt and shame for ???
    Oh, and hire someone to shovel the snow & a plumber to plunge!
    This will free up more time for you to shop.
    Love your blog Kara & Happy Birthday.

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  5. I've gone through the consumer guilt thing as well, and consequently my wardrobe has become mostly grey. WTF?? It's so freaking drab, I'm like a Puritan. Heaven forbid I splurge on red or green or something.
    Oh and to answer your question about the gypsy caravan; it's like 1979 not 1797. But how fun would that be?!

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  6. Blue is my fav colour... and i really liked your post :P

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  7. Carol: I'm stalking you too. I really enjoy reading your blog.

    Amy: Hire someone to shovel snow? That's blasphemy!

    Sara Louise: Me too! All grey...

    Colours of Boulevard: Thank you!

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  8. wont let Lincoln hurt them Love the colour

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  9. So funny to read this b/c I am suffering my own brand of guilt this morning after buying sheets (Target had 700 thread ct. king sheet sets for $15 and king sized elec. blankets for $40!) last night. Oh, and I got myself a fab bag at Sal Val too. And a camel coat on clearance. Now I'm feeling even more guilty...

    Love the pillows!

    I cannot resist following and would love for you to link this to my Fridays Unfolded at http://www.stuff-and-nonsense.net/2011/02/fridays-unfolded-4.html

    Blessings,

    Alison

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  10. I love the pillows and the vase, blue is a bright and cherry color. I'm over from the blog hop and your newest follower.
    Hope
    http://www.dont-worry-bout-a-thing.blogspot.com

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  11. Love them, great colors! I'm happily blog hopping today and so glad I found your lovely blog. Wishing you happiness and a wonderful weekend. Hugs, Katherine

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  12. Let's see...snow shovel on one hand...bright, blue pillows on the other hand...I'm thinking you made just the right choice!

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  13. Ha ha ha...I love it. Such a fun post and the pillows and pear are wonderful, especially the pear. You have a good eye for adding color to your surroundings.

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  14. I love the pillows and who of us could pass up that nifty ceramic pear....hey, don't feel guilty, you're preaching to the choir here in blogsville. Anyway, they say most people buy their wants over their needs all the time, so welcome to the club. Hello! I'm your newest follower from the blog hop. I hope you'll come visit and follow me too. I'd like to be one of your blogging friends. Thanks!

    http://exjw-foodie.blogspot.com/

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  15. Ha ha ha...I love it. Such a fun post and the pillows and pear are wonderful, especially the pear. You have a good eye for adding color to your surroundings.

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  16. I love the pillows and the vase, blue is a bright and cherry color. I'm over from the blog hop and your newest follower.
    Hope
    http://www.dont-worry-bout-a-thing.blogspot.com

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  17. AnonymousJune 07, 2011

    wont let Lincoln hurt them Love the colour

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  18. So funny to read this b/c I am suffering my own brand of guilt this morning after buying sheets (Target had 700 thread ct. king sheet sets for $15 and king sized elec. blankets for $40!) last night. Oh, and I got myself a fab bag at Sal Val too. And a camel coat on clearance. Now I'm feeling even more guilty...

    Love the pillows!

    I cannot resist following and would love for you to link this to my Fridays Unfolded at http://www.stuff-and-nonsense.net/2011/02/fridays-unfolded-4.html

    Blessings,

    Alison

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh wow! Please come and decorate my house...it's a mishmash of colours and styles ..you on the other hand clearly have taste. Those cushions are wonderful. Don't feel bad about consumerism (or snow shovelling) you have stylish cushions - who can feel guilty about that?
    I'm going to follow you on Google too ha how about that for stalking?
    Carol
    ps Did someone mention a love of wine? I like you even more.

    ReplyDelete