Create More, Consume Less

I’ve been thinking about new perspectives I’ve gained over the past year. Ones I want to take into this year and beyond.

One area of life I’m willing to bet we all gained new perspective on is shopping. From TP shortages to slower shipping times, shopping has not been the same these past 12 months.

How did your shopping habits shift?

Did you discover anything new

when the doors of your favorite store were closed?

Here are some insights I’ve gained.

I hate grocery shopping. Always have. Drew (my husband) had taken over the chore of getting groceries early last year, and I was so glad. Still, sometimes, I’d have to go to the store. But now, having tried online ordering — simply drive up and employees deliver it to my car — I may never go in a grocery store again!

A good change.

This one will continue.

(Anyone else out there hate getting groceries? Love doing curbside pickup?)

Another aspect of shopping that I want to continue shifting is the label: Consumer.

We live in a consumer society.

We have:

• consumer indexes

• consumer demand

• consumer laws

• consumer hotlines

• consumer watchdogs

• consumer opinions

• consumer reports

You and I are labeled Consumers.

You and I are treated as Consumers.

You and I are sold to, talked to, and advertised to as Consumers.

Allow me to geek out a little with word definitions. (I love words. I love digging into their meanings.)

Several dictionaries define Consume as:

• eat or drink, especially in great quantities

• buy (goods or services).

• use up (a resource)

• to do away with completely

• to engage fully

• spend wastefully

• (especially of a fire) completely destroy

• to enjoy avidly

• to destroy or expend by use

• to absorb, engross

• eat or drink up, devour

• destroy by decomposition or burning
  

A few positive definitions, but many more negative ones. A Consumer is one who Consumes. One who uses up, destroys, expends, wastes…

This is NOT an attribute I wish to have.

This is NOT how I think of myself.

These are NOT actions I want to be doing.

God made us to Create and Cultivate.

Those are the attributes I want to focus on and develop.

Shopping less this past year has helped me consider how I can spend more time creating instead of simply consuming. One area where I can do this is knitting. (There’s a whole movement against fast fashion that encourages making your own clothes. Many people make their entire wardrobes. I’m hardly doing that.)

I am looking for simple shifts

toward more creating and less consuming.

For me that means knitting more and buying less. This past year I’ve finished more sweaters and shawls than ever. Wearing something I’ve made is so satisfying! Many of you know this feeling.

My goal this year is to expand into sock-knitting. I’ve heard great things about hand-knit socks and I’m excited to try my first pair!

[Granted, I do still need to buy yarn in order to knit, so I have not stopped purchasing altogether. However, there is a difference between buying the supplies or ingredients to make your own sweater or your own meal, rather than buying a sweater off the rack or picking up a meal in the drive-thru. The latter requires much more effort, time and hands-on involvement with the end result.

For my fellow knitters out there, I will say that buying yarn and knitting with yarn are 2 distinct hobbies — you know what I mean! I have also sought to work through my stash more, and acquire less new yarn. Many other knitters have been doing the same.]

Consider where you like to Create instead of Consume. Is it:

• Music?

• Meals?

• Movies?

• Morris chairs?

• Clothing?

• Cupcakes?

• Cardio workouts?

Whether we are creating purely for fun or for practical use, whether the creations are temporary or long-lasting, creating is a core part of our design. We are not made to sit and consume. We are designed to dream and experiment and create. The more we work with our minds and our hands, the more we know the joy of being active both physically and mentally.

Tell me:

When you've been unable to shop, has it stirred you to find something more satisfying to fill your time and your hands?

When you've binged too long on Netflix, have you brainstormed about how you might better engage your imagination or move your body?

What have you discovered?

What will you create next?