Happy 2018 – Day 184 – If you were the last person on Earth…

I consider myself to be a pretty non-materialistic person.

Although I’m drawn to jewellery like a Magpie, I don’t spend much on it and I don’t really value it in my heart and soul, as I do my friends, family, cats…

So when Mr. G and I were talking about wanting things or doing things in order to impress others, I cockily replied that I only did things to suit myself; because I wanted them! He asked me why I couldn’t go out of the house without makeup, telling me that I was clearly trying to impress others. “It’s for me!” I shouted, “It makes me feel good. It’s not for anyone else! How dare you?!”

I felt I had a solid case. Until….

“So if you were the last person on Earth and there was no one else around, would you still be wearing makeup?”

Errrr. 

Upon reflection, I guess I’m forced to admit that maybe it isn’t just for me. Maybe somewhere in my subconscious I do wear or say or do or want things, because of a need to fit in with or impress others. Because I’m pretty sure if I was the last person on Earth, I wouldn’t be concerned with mascara.

Something I read recently was about the role of advertising in our world today, and how the job of advertisers is to create anxiety that they can then remedy with their product. Basically, they make you feel that you’re missing something to make you complete and the only way you can fill this gap is by buying their product. This process is now such a commonplace part of the consumer-driven world, that all of us now struggle to differentiate between what we really want and what we’ve been programmed to think that we need.

So here; ask yourself that question: 

If you were the last person on Earth. Would you still want the things that you want? 

What might you do differently?

What might concern you less?

While I’m not about to forego makeup, or earrings, I think that looking at things from this viewpoint can provide fresh insight. Especially if you’re in a place where you’re longing for things (objects, places to go, experiences to have) and perhaps not appreciating the things that you do have.

Because if you don’t want something if nobody’s looking, then at your inner-core, you know you don’t really want it at all. So there’s no use in making yourself feel ‘less-than’ because you don’t have it.