The Non-Consumer Advocate started her book selection this month with Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth in a Sustainable Lifestyle by David Wann. I'm not one for book clubs so I just decided to check this book out and read it on my own time. I reserved this book at my library and picked it up last week but last night was the first that I had a chance to start the book. Wow. This book is fantastic so far; granted I'm not that far into it, but reading it, I couldn't put it down. And yeah, I got to bed around midnight last night. Oops. The reason why I found this book so fascinating is because this book focuses on what I've been preaching since I started this blog:
Advocating non-consumerism and focusing on a life rich
with experiences and relationships.
During the whole time I was reading, I was nodding in agreement, making mental notes, and thinking about how much more stuff I could get rid of to really purge my house down to the things I need and love. Friday night I really buckled down and went through all of my books and all of my DVDs and took them to my used bookstore for credit and cash. Let me tell you how freeing it is to have all of that stuff out of my house! I got rid of over 50 DVDs and numerous books, now I can use the store credit for books that I want to keep for good or even for buying gifts for family. Some of those movies I hadn't watched in years and it was just stupid for them to be sitting in my house; I'm grateful that there are places like that!
Anyway, back to the book, this morning I was reading some of the passages to boyfriend and he agreed that this book hits the nail on the head. I've decided to take things a step further with my purging and if it's in storage, it probably is there for a reason and it needs to go. (This includes my beloved original Nintendo and game collection that I haven't played in over 2 years).
This book just really brings a greater awareness of how Americans are making more money than ever before, have bigger houses and more things, yet, we're not any happier than we were 50 years ago. Scary, huh? Why are we such a consumer-driven culture? What can we do to overcome this?
Please, if you get an opportunity, check out this book and if you wish, participate in The Non-Consumer Advocate's book club. Let me know what you think! I've already put in request at my library for Mr. Wann's other book, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. Can't wait!
1 comment:
I'll have to check it out, it definitely sounds interesting. I had heard of Affluenza before, I've used the term myself. It's a great word. I don't plan to drop all of my consumerist desires, just the ones that don't add any value to my life.
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