Consumption and Time

 

Hello!

Long time, never see!

Usually when you see a post from a moribund blog, you assume the writer has moved on. 

Got a job. Lost a job.  Can't afford internet service. Got married.  Had a child.  Had a death or illness in the family.  Decided to watch seasons 1-6 of Lost on Netflix.  Got someone to have sex with them on the regular.  Whatever.

I'm guessing many dead blogs are the result of losing the exciting fizz that accompanies any new enterprise. Though full of links and photos and lists, blogging is still writing;  I imagine many bloggers are more interested in their topic than writing as a practice.  So once the toes stop curling, it becomes a job like any other.  

None of these apply to Secondhand Nation.  There haven't been any tumultuous life passages for me or my kin.  I haven't experienced an uptick income that might allow me to buy retail.  I am still interested in food politics and recycling.  And I'm still a writer, in various forms and fashions.

But I don't thrift very much anymore.  And that seemed to be the purpose of this blog:  to talk about the joys of thrift stores and scores, to celebrate what is beautiful about cast-off culture. But I just don't do it much anymore and it's not about money.

It's about time.  

I don't have the time to wander through thrift stores looking for possible deals.  

I don't have time to keep track of which store has what on sale on which day.  

I don't have time to meander around following home-made signs to rummage sales that feature a bunch of junk I don't have room for in my home.

I don't have time to waste three hours digging in racks of various stores for a pair of jeans that are petite length and in my size and that are 5 bucks... when I can just get them immediately, brand-new, at the store in 15 minutes and be done with it.

Thrift shopping is still shopping.  It's still about stuff.  To get deals, you must think about stuff...CONSTANTLY.  A great deal of energy and memory is used up contemplating retail v. Savers pricing vs. eBay pricing vs. Target clearance markdowns.  

I simply don't want to spend my time this way anymore.  And if I'm honest with myself, I can say that I probably spend much less now, because the more you shop, the more you are around objects that appeal to you.  If you simply stay home, away from such objects, you don't tend to buy them. Rocket science, huh?

So I don't know what to do with this blog anymore.  If I hit a thrift store once every 6 weeks looking for pieces of Mexican tourist pottery for my collection, does that make me Citizen One of Secondhand Nation?  If I have a kitchen compost and reusable grocery bags and a backyard garden and go to Turn-Style occasionally to find cool pairs of shoes, does that make me green?  If I hit a library book sale and come home with some funny home ec manuals from the 50's and upload the pictures from them, does that interest anyone?

Of course, from time to time, I still need things but not in a rapacious, constant way.  Three years ago, we bought a new house and needed to fill it and I've pretty much done that.  My child is the age that is hard to find used clothing for anymore - when you are 6 and 7, you really start to wear the hell out of clothes and you don't need a lot of baby gear.  You eat with spoons and forks like adults, you get cheap books from class book orders, you are surpassing lifetime limits on stuffed animal accumulation.  

Buying cheap stuff might appear to save money.  But what I really need to save is TIME.

I can't think of much to say about it anymore, except that I don't know how to pretend I'm captivated if I'm not, you know?  

Anyway, I've got to think a bit about this.  If you've hit this wall, whether in your blogging or thrifting life, feel free to chime in with advice.

Photo:  war alarm clocks from Library of Congress.  Details here.

Comments

[Courtney]

I've had high tide and low tide periods in thrifting, all related to money, time and energy. It doesn't surprise me that other people also hit the same wall.

The idea behind this blog is very interesting and can easily draw a lot of followers from all walks of life, but it seems like a huge undertaking for one person. If you want to keep the blog going, it might be a good idea to share the work load. Maybe see if you can find additional contributors (regular authors and/or guest posters) to write about their thrifting strategies and awesome finds?

Good luck!

[Holly]

Like the other commentor's suggestion about sharing the load. Also, maybe this is not te blog for you anymore...or, is it about how you get by buying less--whether from thrift stores or not. There is something in here about consumer culture that might be your real topic...or not? Also, I love your blog re-org. Especially the new banner. Looks fab.

Whether it is this blog or another, I think you should keep on keeping on somewhere because you have a point of view that is always interesting and provocative and I like to listen to it.