Zeitgeist

Back at the beginning of 2008, I had made an observation. Being green was becoming so commonplace. Every store I knew had "buy these reusable bags for $1 and be eco-conscious" bags. It was starting to disgust me in that it seemed the idea of being less wasteful was trendy. I put myself in the proverbial corporations' shoes and thought, well, if they didn't do what everyone else is doing, they would look like they don't care. Okay, I can buy that.

Still, I was annoyed with the pervasive trendiness of it all, that I had a thought that I would revert back to extreme wastefulness and consumerism. Stuff, stuff, and more stuff. I was going to make my dent into landfills. I did, of course, grow up in the days of Material Girl.

But then I thought about why I needed to be so counterculture. Just because it's popular and trendy, doesn't make it wrong. I generally tend to be against the grain. If it's the in thing, it's generally not my thang. Vox populi says this is IT. And I end up being against IT.



But is that always true? Sheepishly, I admit, not always. I think about a time where I really wanted something, but my anti-popularity self said it's a highly desirable brand so I must not get it. Angel meet Devil. Angel is the voice of reason and says it's nice looking, made well, is not splashed with company's logo, and will look great with everything you already own. I still carry that Coach bag to this day.

Sometimes my anti-ness can be detrimental.

I think back to the beginning of 2008 and it's been 8-9 months since my observation at the beginning of the year. Maybe the trendiness isn't bad after all. Seems like people are making long-term changes that are permanent and impactful and that just become part of normal daily operations of life. This would be akin to someone losing a lot of weight, breaking out of the cycle of yo-yo gains and losses, and making exercise and nutritional changes for long-term health and well-being.

By the way, I am down to just one bag of actual trash per week. And it's actually about 1/2 bag. Mostly food stuffs, coffee grains, etc. That does make me smile.

“What I say today everybody will say tomorrow, though they will not remember who put it into their heads. Indeed they will be right for I never remember who puts things into my head : it is the Zeitgeist.” - George Bernard Shaw