A Wren Says

My trip to Nobu and Phipps plaza happened during a particularly stressful period of my life. I had already planned the trip and made the reservation, but I didn’t expect to need it so bad. I indulged in all of the food, like I had planned. That was no problem. Making an expensive planned purchase is nothing to be ashamed of. However, I didn’t plan to take part in the Net-a-Porter sale. I didn’t plan to navigate to the website and add so many things to my cart. I had not put on my schedule to so eagerly enter my credit card number. After I pressed submit, I had a moment when the weight of what I had done hit me.

I have said before on here that you, you not me, should be aware of your emotional state when you go shopping and avoid using purchases to fill the void. I on the other hand, sat at my screen trying desperately to do just that. I imbued meaning in the different products, telling myself they were a good idea because they would do things for me that I knew an inanimate object couldn’t. I spent too much, that much was clear. But I also gave myself grace.

When the order was submitted, I took a moment to breathe, to really think about what it was that I was searching for. I honored the pain that I was feeling and the stress I was under. I was doing the best I could, and instead of making myself feel worse, I decided to think of where to go from there.

“What do you actually need? When the package arrives really assess what it is that you bought. What do you truly want to keep?”

 Instead of just returning everything when it arrived, I assessed it. The necklace wasn’t really a good fit for me; that was returned. However, the earrings were, and I kept them. The purse, even though it was an impulse buy, was something I really liked and would be a great addition to my wardrobe. I find that I didn’t regret it all that much. I chose to incorporate the items into my wardrobe and really cherish them. But of course, I have set myself some rules to prevent this from happening again.

I am on a purchasing moratorium for a bit as I try to reign in my spending and go after what I truly want that can’t be bought.