Giving up moderation for Lent, and that sort of thing

[flexagon]

I wanted to post briefly about my "not buying new objects" policy. What is it? Well, with an exception for house stuff this year, I'm not buying things for myself between approximately New Year's and approximately March 5. That doesn't mean no toothpaste (consumables don't count as things), and it doesn't mean no joint purchases like replacing the small omelet pan I destroyed by leaving the heat on (that was joint property). It does mean no buying magazines, books, music, shoes, clothing, trinkets, computer games, or earrings.

Last year I really was trying to hold down expenses; this year I'm not. So why do it again? Part of it is to take a break from constantly thinking about buying things, from looking through every catalog wondering if I'm going to buy something or not. For the moment every single decision is no. It kind of clears my head out a little bit, after the buying and thing-centricity of Christmas. Also, knowing about hedonic adaptation, I really believe this:

The real pleasure-seeking is the combination of luxury and austerity in such a way that the luxury can really be felt.
~G.K. Chesterton.

I'm more than halfway done with my "thing fast", and so far this year it's been very easy. People gave me lots of Christmas books and I haven't had trouble rationing out the fiction ones. I've had three incidents of irritation and chafing... as in Zen practice, the idea here is to just observe them (and make a note of the thing I wanted, so I can buy it in March if I still want it then).

• Last weekend I really felt like buying a certain magazine. I think it was just a Cosmo or something trashy, but it looked like fun for reading at the gym and then leaving there.
• Athleta sent a catalog that focused on yoga and I wanted one of everything! Most of my yoga pants are getting saggy so I really need more, and I want some of their skirts and skorts too (skorts, I've finally realized, are the solution to the way short skirts often ride up on me). On the same damn day I got a Pyramid Collection catalog that I also liked, and I sulked for a couple of days before managing to let this go.
• Today I heard this song at the gym and managed to identify it. I like it and I'd have bought the mp3 already if not for the fast. I guess that if I subscribed to Rhapsody or something similar then maybe music wouldn't be a "thing" anymore, but for now I don't and it still is.

I am going to appreciate the hell out of my new yoga pants. One more month.

I kind of want to know about you. Do you think this is crazy, or do you take breaks from things that you normally enjoy? If you do (nevers, I know you give up LJ and FB every January), what is your experience of that and what do you think you get from it?

Comments

[nevers.livejournal.com]

yeah, i take breaks from things i enjoy every so often, usually as a way to break a compulsion. the january internet break is a tradition, but i've also gone a month without sugar, tried to go a month without purchasing/consuming disposable plastic, eaten only local food for a week, etc. with the internet break, i love watching how i change my habits. i spend the first few days impulsively typing the first few letters of the urls of my favorite sites, and by the end of the month i don't even think about them. when i go a while without twitter i no longer see any point to it. with livejournal, especially this past month, i realized how grateful i am for it and how much i depend on it as a way to process my feelings and get feedback from friends. it's also interesting to see what i replace the thing i'm abstaining from with. when i gave up sugar, i ate lots of dried fruit-and-nut bars. in past januaries, i've spent lots of time on ask.metafilter or other social networking web sites, although that's not always how january works out.

[miyyu.livejournal.com]

I'm actually doing something similar right now, though my original intentions weren't as spiritual or high-minded as yours. :) We spend a lot of money on gifts every Christmas because we like giving gifts and I figure, I'm doing well, I should spread it around a bit. But that also means January-February is a little lean. I'm abstaining even more than last year - not buying ANYTHING extra except the occasional i-Tunes download - because we have a lofty savings goal for this year and to be honest, I'm usually the one who spends the disposable income. I don't have a finite amount of time for this, I'm just taking it a month at a time to see how much money I save. So far, it's been more than I thought, which is eye-opening.

[perfectbound.livejournal.com]

I'm on a yarn and spinning fiber diet from now until the end of October, when I'm going to a spinning retreat where there will be lots of vendors. It's partly about money (I may be unemployed later this year), partly about breaking the compulsion to acquire, partly about conserving space in my house, and partly about using what I already have which is plentiful and fairly awesome. Since starting the diet I've been gifted some fiber, picked up small amounts of yarn in swaps and also gotten rid of some old stuff, and bought a bunch of books and tools. Plus ended up with some store credit from a return that I spent on, well, fiber -- I decided this instance didn't count if I spent it on cotton, which I'd never used before. So I suppose at this point the diet looks like a big fail to the casual observer, but it's changing my habits and I like that, so onward.

[dancing-crow.livejournal.com]

oh yes! I went six months without buying fabric, which was interesting, and made me use more of what I already had and to make use of the supplies and tools that I had. At the end of that I knew what I liked to use, what I hated to use, and had a good place to work from to empty out my studio space and only put into it the tools and supplies I used and loved.

At the beginning of each year I spend January not-buying fabric. Sometimes I can start again in Feb., sometimes I don't need anything until March or May. It hasn't been as long as six months since the first time.

I am really attracted to the idea of a break from the internet. I wonder what that would look like, and feel like?

[nevers.livejournal.com]

also, the first week i have lots of moments of "but X just happened and nobody will know. i guess that's okay. i guess it's real even if i don't write about it and share it with people. i can still enjoy/dislike it all by myself..." ad then after a while the compulsion to share every event or change in motion fades.

[flexagon]

Riiiight... I'm doing it in order to resensitize myself, so that I can go on hedonistically buying things, you're doing it because you were extra-generous over the holidays, and you think my reasons are high-minded? Heh. :)

Your lofty savings goal makes me feel a bit wistful. I mean, my savings plan is lofty enough, but I kind of wish sometimes that we had financial plans as a couple that we were both interested in. It's great that you guys work together on such things.

[flexagon]

yarn and spinning fiber diet

Of course! I forgot to even add yarn and knitting stuff to my list, but yarn diets are common enough to have their own name. I don't think your project sounds like a fail at all. :)

[flexagon]

Very cool. It seems like January is a common time for these things (not-buying fabric, not-buying objects, not-being-on-LJ). It's a month of hunkering down and living quietly.

I am really attracted to the idea of a break from the internet. I wonder what that would look like, and feel like?

I am, too! I am inspired by nevers and kind of want to try it. I could never not-internet at work because internet work is my job, but could I go a month without LJ and Facebook and Google Reader? Or, could I do that stuff sporadically at work, but possibly go a month without turning on my home computer? (Whoa.) I think I'd like to try that sometime this year.

The other thing that fascinates me is the idea of a silent meditation retreat -- not talking for a week or so.

[flexagon]

Oh gosh, this! I'm inspired by your idea, but have gotten so used to thinking "pictures on the internet or else it didn't happen". I really want to try some variant on this for a month sometime this year, but I'll have to work out the parameters. Summer might work better for me.

[miyyu.livejournal.com]

So I'm Santa and you're Buddha? :P

[flexagon]

I think I'm Bacchus and you've got me confused with that other guy.