Adaptive Path posted some personal New Year’s resolutions. Many of them reflected the self-promotion and marketing at which Adaptive Path excels  :D  but this one really spoke to me:

Last year my resolution was to not buy anything new. I made it six months. Not too bad, but maybe this year I can do better. Some folks who try this get all hard core and make their own soap and shoes. I’m going the less ascetic route and sticking to a basic formula of no flagrantly brand-new lifestyle purchases (such as clothes, accessories or household objects). My version allows unrestricted trips to the grocery and drug store for food and fundamental toiletries. Essentially it’s about remembering that I don’t usually need what I am buying — I want it. And if I do need it there is probably a perfectly good used one out there somewhere I can get my hands on. The flea market, consignment shops, Goodwill, eBay, my mom’s house — are all fun options. It’s about being resourceful. Do I already have one (or several!) shoved in a drawer and forgotten? Most likely. Do I have something that can easily be substituted? Perhaps. Can I borrow one? Probably. Can I make do without? Surely. Can I find one from the seventies? I hope so. I actually found that instead of feeling denied those six months I felt a certain relief. By taking away the option in such a straightforward way the shopping impulse began to fade, which also created space and time for other things. [Chelsa Robinson, via Adaptive Path]

(Six months? Wow!) That’s what I call making a real and substantive difference. It shows discipline and commitment to an ideal. Many people (myself included!) have times where they are forced to avoid buying new… but doing so by choice says a lot.

To ponder: Why is this resolution so easy to admire, and the anti-materialist attitude here not so?