Stop for a moment and think about all of the stress that you experience in your daily life. Stress from work. Stress from finances. Stress from traffic and community. Stress from being over-committed. Stress from personal relationships. We’re guessing that we’ve only just begun to touch on the many items on the list of things that you might identify as causing stress for you. And if you’re like the vast majority of people, one of the top priorities in your life is reducing the amount of stress and increasing the amount of relaxation. But what if we told you that one of the greatest sources of stress in your life is one that you likely don’t even recognize?
Addictive consumerism and the consumer media machine that drives it is so ubiquitous and ingrained in our daily existence that we often don’t think about or even realize the negative impact that it has on our lives. Today, we’re going to encourage you to let go of that stress by helping you to become more aware of it.
First, Deeply Wrap Your Mind Around the Fact That You Live in a Consumer Culture
Before you can get a handle on all of the ways that consumerism and the consumer media machine cause stress in your life, make sure that you’ve gained true awareness of how ingrained in your life consumerism is. If you’re a regular to the Postconsumers website, then this is already a topic that you’ve immersed yourself in (or at least casually read a few articles). But if not, we’d encourage you to take a moment to think this theory through. How many times during your day do you see a social media interaction, an advertisement or a casual conversational mention of buying “stuff.” How much of your life is dedicated to “stuff” instead of experiences? Why do you earn money? Is it to buy more “stuff?” How much “stuff” do you own that you don’t need? Do you have an emotional response to “stuff?” These are all questions that will begin to ground you in the reality of our consumer society. And then, shortly after that, you’ll begin to think of the stress that consumerism causes you.
Stress Trap One: The Goal that Can Never Be Reached
Having a goal and working towards it isn’t just a useful thing, it’s actually an important part of a healthy life. But having a Sisyphean goal that doesn’t actually accomplish anything and, in truth, can never be met won’t do anything except cause you stress – and possibly depression. That’s the essential core of addictive consumerism. Consumerism exists to drive profits for companies. But companies can only make money if you continue to buy “stuff.” If you make a purchase and then stop purchasing, the churn of consumer profits decreases. That’s why the consumer machine works so hard to instill in you the idea that you need to buy more, more and more, presenting so many choices that it makes heads spin. If there’s always the “next thing” that you need to purchase, you’ve never met the end or the accomplishment of your goal. That may be great for keeping the national economy churning, but it’s not great for your stress level. You’re always working towards something, and you can never truly achieve what you’re working towards. Cue the stress headaches and insomnia.
Stress Trap Two: Feelings of Low Self Worth
What causes stress more than feelings of low self-worth? Not much, in truth. But causing you to question your self-worth is another fundamental core tenant of consumerism. Consumerism is all about comparing yourself to your neighbors and how much they have. How big is their house? How many cars in the drive? Do they have the latest iteration of flat screen tvs, likely in 3D? And you are encouraged to compare yourself to them and then to strive to have the same things that they do. Presumably you might be striving to get those things because their life seems happier with them. However, likely they are feeling the same sense of stress and overall lack of happiness in their constant quest to obtain “stuff” that you are. And they will always buy more “stuff” and more upgrades, and you will always be comparing yourself to them. The cycle is endless and it’s endless stress. Until you cut the cord!
And, Of Course, Financial Stress
If you asked the average American what causes them the most stress, chances are high that money would be on the list. In fact, it’s often cited as the number one reason that couples divorce. We’re not going to deny that there’s currently a class economic suppression in America and that the ability to basically feed and house your family should never cause stress. But what about unnecessary financial stress? That’s the outcome of mass consumerism. If the goal is that you can never buy enough “stuff,” then at base you’ll never feel as though you have enough money. And that is the ultimate in daily stress. It also launches a vicious cycle in which you work more to buy more stuff to feel like you need more stuff and so you work more. And in all of that the time and ability to relax, enjoy life and lower your stress level decreases. Stress increases, satisfaction with life decreases and, ironically, people turn to retail therapy and purchasing more stuff to supposedly decrease stress.
Stop Consumer Stress and Find the Satisfaction of Enough
The control is still in your hands, though. It will take work, but you can begin the process of separating yourself from the consumer marketing machine and finding the satisfaction of enough for today. The journey may not always be easy, but there’s so much in life to bring you joy other than “stuff.” We like to think that at Postconsumers we’ve created great resources for you to start to do that. There are plenty of reasons that you’ll want to break away from the control of the consumer machine, but if finances and the health of the planet aren’t enough for you, perhaps reducing your own stress level will inspire you to begin your journey!
Did we miss a way that your stress is being increased by the consumer media machine? Tell us about it on the social media channels below.
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Photo Credit: Andrew Imanaka via Flickr
