Changing the ways I seek happiness.

So here's the thing. I was reflecting on the purpose of the things in my life. I have everything I need in my life, so the new things I buy rarely serve a purpose beyond making me feel fulfilled and happy. But the happiness and excitement that comes with acquiring my new thing never lasts, so I'm left reeling to find another new thing to satisfy those feelings. A lot of the time it feels like a good percentage of my brain activity is used to think about where I could look next to find my new thing.

It doesn't feel good to realize the amount of environmental degradation and inequality that my personal consumption causes in the world. I envision a life for myself and for others where we focus on our personal relationships, cultivating community, and taking meaningful actions that help us find those feelings of happiness, satisfaction, and excitement without causing harm to our planet and our people. I want to focus on my values, like making the most of the clothes I already own. I can do this by finding new ways to style them, taking proper care of them and repairing them as needed (instead of donating them). I also value my personal relationships, and will work to cultivate those as a means of arriving at the same feelings of happiness, where my brain will spend less time searching tirelessly for a new thing and will spend more time making memories with my friends, participating in my community, and engaging more with the world in front of me. Being in nature is one of my favourite ways to stimulate the part of my brain that likes new-ness and excitement. There's so much to explore and so many things to see and feel, so I will focus on satisfying those needs while I am out on my hikes and bike rides. I'd love to hear the ways you might be choosing to find happiness in your life that doesn't include the consumption of new products!