Consumed by Consumerism

I am quite annoyed by the fact that every time I feel down in the dumps about my life, I find myself wanting to buy something. What makes me think that my (unnecessary and stupid) worries about my life will be magically whisked away if I go out and blow money that I don't have on something that I don't need? For example: I was constantly buying stuff when I was in Arizona. I bought a new TV (though, the old one WAS pretty small compared to my living room), new underwear (I ordered from Vicki's online catalogue a couple of times during my two month AZ tenure), and, in a moment of VERY poor judgment, a cockatiel (that turned out to drive me absolutely crazy with his incessant screaming). None of this stuff made me feel better. In fact, the bird made me feel WORSE. Maybe if I had spent less time buying stuff and more time socializing, I wouldn't have been so fucking depressed. However, rather than take the blame for something which was clearly my fault, I'm going to blame the hegemonic systems of our culture (if you have no idea what this means, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegemonic).

Visual media in general is the biggest culprit here. I am duped by images of people who are super-happy because they have [insert product here]. Unfortunately, this all happens subconsciously, which makes it all the more dangerous, because you don't realize it's happening. Your conscious thought process more than likely does not play out like this: "Oh, look at Ellen Pompeo on the New York and Co. posters plastered ALL over the store. She is wearing New York and Co. clothes, and she looks so happy with McDreamy (who is strangely on the posters although NY&Co. does not sell men's clothing). This means that if I buy the same clothes, I will become a prominent television star, and hook a sexy man, and live happily ever after!" This sounds ridiculous and, quite frankly, it is. Nonetheless, when I feel unhappy, I STILL want to buy shit! Maybe a new laptop will make me feel better...