Day 5: Variety does not make happiness, but being shirtless on a beach might.

Not even a week into this already, and I'm rethinking what I'm calling it. "Consumerism Detox" or "Consumer Detox" don't seem to be sufficient titles.

The reason I named it as such had to do with some thoughts I had after reading a series of articles on the effects of things like advertising, certain aspects of social media, sugar, lack of physical activity, disconnection from community (which kind of goes hand-in-hand with social media), spirituality and lack of creative outlets have on contentment, health and happiness.

In general, our grandparents and great grandparents were vastly happier than our current generation. Which flies in the face of everything with tried to do with modernization. These are things that we, in general consider to be good things like increased number of choices on everything from car styles to types of toothpaste and coffee, easier access to certain foods (we love this in my house, because sugar!), much higher income and education levels per capita, a gazillion television stations to watch, the ability to binge on our favorite shows WITHOUT COMMERCIALS! That alone was unthinkable to me as a child. It used to be a treat to me to record Saturday morning cartoons on a VHS tape so that I could fast forward through the commercials and never lose track of the story line.

All of these modern conveniences that were supposed to improve our lives have not in any discernible way if you just consider overall well-being. Don't take my word for it, read for yourself (extra points if you know which celebrity used to say that on his PBS show--and that's a lot of hints right there). Check out this article published by the American Psychological Association on how consumerism is shaping us psychologically.

This is an older article that pre-dated modern smart phones, Netflix binge neuropsychology research, the insane variety of specialty beers in your local grocery store (unless you're from the Seattle area, then you're like "I might need you define 'insane variety', because I think we may have always had that") and the fact that Americans are now spending more money eating out than they are at grocery stores.

While our appetites for things and variety seem to have grown with the increased variety and quantity and accessibility of things, I wonder if what we thought would bring us contentment really isn't.

Now look, I'm not one of those "tiny house-living," minimalist, live off the grid with a negative carbon footprint kind of guys. I just want to figure out where the balance is. I just want to find that sweet spot where contentedness lies. I may never fully experience what it means to ruly experience need and hunger and insecurity. I have way more than I deserve just simply because of the country I was born in. Maybe contentedness might involve a little more than things, experiences and health though. I think it's something deeper that involves real connections with real people in real time and, more profoundly, there is a spiritual component to this that I want to explore.

If the research shows that consumer-available variety, quantity and quality can't lead to lasting joy, then what happens when this is eliminated?

That's the basis of this plan. And I'm loving it so far. I want to expand on several points of what I'm discussing here in later posts, but my day was long and I have an early morning tomorrow. Until then, here's my picture of the day:

This picture pretty effortlessly expresses what contentedness looks like in a 10 year old kid (in this case, my son Owen)  running shirtless in the surf  after my sister's wedding in Pacific Grove.