Some people are never satisfied, it’s an affliction of modern life.

They always want more and live in a constant state of unrest and discontentment.

No matter what they buy or own, it’s never enough, they always want more…

There is no joy in the present just a niggling want for the future. They want a lot and they want it now.

Most of us are living life on a perpetual hamster wheel of ‘I’ll be happy when…’

When I own that house
When I buy that car
When I can afford that holiday
When I buy that dress

And related to getting money to purchase the above, ‘I’ll be happy when…’
When I get that job
When I get x qualification
When I get THAT promotion

Advertising creates unrest within us, discontentment and wishes that need to be fulfilled through consuming the latest goods and gadgets, products and potions.

It tells us this product will make us prettier so we can love ourselves more and be more confident and therefore snatch the kind of man or job we’ve always dreamed of.

They tie things with emotions, emotions to goals and convince you that owning things should be your goal!

It’s a practiced web that snares us at every turn.

Companies spend millions on advertising and marketing but this pales in comparison to the billions they get in return.

Speculate to accumulate.

And boy do they accumulate. Mostly your hard earned cash.

We are taught from a young age to consume, to aspire to some kind of ideal of family and success. Big house, flash car, holidays several times a year, premium goods for a premium lifestyle all for a premium price.

As part of my training for a job a few years back, we had to make a mood board. I had rolled my eyes at the time thinking this was some woo woo task so they could peer into our psyche and get a feel for how good we’d be at our jobs. I was wrong- it does happen on occasion!

They were more ‘I want boards’ rather than mood boards.

We were given heaps of lifestyle magazines, Tatler, Vogue, Vanity Fair (you get the picture) a pair of scissors, print stick and canvas board.
We had to cut out the things we wanted to buy, to own, to purchase. High end goods we had coveted for years but never had the means to buy. This board was to be our selling motivation. Something to remind us of what we want to achieve and by achieve they meant purchase.

We were told to keep our mood boards somewhere in sight to help us push through the tough days.

After I left the job I smashed mine up.
It was very therapeutic and cathartic!!!

Who was I kidding. I was never going to make a good sales person. Yes I like things but only to add to my happiness I don’t expect them to create it!!

I, however, am in the absolute minority.

Don’t get me wrong- I wasn’t always like this.  In fact I spent the first part of my adult life being the exact opposite. I was an avid consumer. I was a frequent shopper of high end stuff. If there had have been a prize for purchase panache I’d have surely won it!

But I got out alive. The scales fell from my eyes and I saw that tangible, inanimate objects had no effect on my intangible, animate self. Once you have food, water, shelter and the love of good friends and family, everything else is a bonus, not a necessity.

Most people want things because they feel things will complete them, will fill the void. They believe that if they buy the Ted Baker
dress, the Louboutin shoes, the mulberry bag they’ll be happy.

And modern day man is just as bad. Swayed by sexy advertising that promises to make them and Adonis if the buy and wear this brand.

But what happens when you buy the house and the car and have the job you thought you wanted so you can pay for the things you were certain would make you happy and still….still you’re discontent. What happens then? Capitalism will have you believe you just need to buy more, more stuff to fill that ever growing void, more things to keep you warm at night, more, more, more!

Like wee Oliver Twist we ask for more, but unlike Oliver we are not chastised for it, we are praised for it.

Well done children of commerce and capitalism and consumerism, you are the chosen few that keep the ship of big business afloat, all the while sinking your own little boat.

You feel unfulfilled so you indulge in some retail therapy and feel satisfied until you are engulfed by the reminder of your second maxed out credit card.

And sometimes you’ll get a moment of clarity and delve into sheer panic at the amount of debt you’ve allowed yourself to accrue. But then your friends will comment that everyone’s in the same boat and you’ll take comfort in the fact we all sink together.

Naomi