I often joke about shopping being a form of retail therapy for me, about needing it and so forth and I know many other women and men who say this in jest too but the reality is that there is an element of truth behind it.
If there is one thing that this strange episode of life made us realise, is that as humans li being living in a somewhat materialistic world, we seek comfort in new feelings and experiences. Shopping is also form of discovery, of a treasure hunt situation, there is that element of surprise, of searching for something and once the hunt is over – you get the prize. Currently, our forms of pleasure are more limited, clubs are closed, travel is limited and even interaction with our friends and loved ones has been diminished somewhat. In the first few months of this pandemic, I dealt with it all by shopping for far too many things, many of which I will admit to being impulse buys but those packages got me through that period when I felt as though the walls were closing in on me, when I went from being a person never home to a person always home, when seeing my parents felt like committing a crime. I know other people who indulged in nice wines, in cooking gourmet dinners, ordering takeaways – I think we all recognise that we have become accustomed to new experiences that we feel we need a constant influx of and whilst travel is off the charts, we need to look elsewhere.
So maybe we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves. Let’s practice moderation in all things but also, let’s give ourselves a break or two because life is pretty strange right now.
Sometimes, maybe retail therapy is a form of therapy after all
If you’re in the mood for some shopping check out my shopping page here
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