And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~ Kahlil Gibran



Friday, September 14, 2007

Sometimes Simplicity Sucks

Nice alliteration, huh? I threw in that $.50 word for free, too.

I am having a bit of a bad day with this simplicity thing. I think I do pretty well, for the most part. I don't do a lot of driving (save on the gas), I try to grow my own food, I turn off lights and such, I shop at thrift stores (kind of like a treasure hunt -- tres cool), and for the most part I think about what I do and how to decrease my impact on the earth and live a better life.

Then, on days like today, stuff happens to totally derail me.

You see, I REALLY like pretty things. Not necessarily the girly, frilly stuff. Classy, quality, beautiful stuff. I like things to match, too. I got a catalog in the mail today, and it was full to the brim with fabulous, incredible, gorgeous items. I started to drool.

Do I really need an outfit that costs as much per piece as I usually spend per year on my whole wardrobe? NO. Do I want it? YES.

Do I need a new living room set, complete with fantastic Tiffany style lamps? NO. Do I want it? HELL YEAH.

The problem is, my needs are all met. Most of my stuff is "reclaimed", something that I believe in passionately, and I normally don't have a problem with that. After all, I am a fairly crafty gal, and I always figure I can fix stuff up so it looks nice. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Take, for example, my couch. Wonderful lines, nice looking wood, and (I think, though DH disagrees) comfy. I got it at a thrift store for $15. The problem? The cushions are UGLY. I don't mean just not my style, I mean "throw it in the back room or up at the hunting cabin because I can't stand to look at it" UGLY. I bought the couch thinking I would re-cover the cushions. Not a tough job, even for a sewing novice like myself. That was over 2 years ago now. I just don't always seem to find the time to actually DO my fix-er-up projects.

Now, it would be easy to blame our small apt for this lack in myself. When you have to drag everything out of storage, set it up in the middle of every one's way, then put it away again before you can feed your family, it does make things tough.

But that is no excuse. The truth is, I dream big and don't always follow through.

Well, no one is perfect, right? I guess I will just live with mis-matched furniture for a while longer...

4 comments:

Kati said...

LOL I sent for the Boden and Anthropologie catalogs one time, just to see what other folks are ga-ga over, and DAMN!!!!! What I wouldn't give for a small fortune to spend on those clothes!!!! (And a body size that would FIT those clothes!) Not that I need them. I'm properly dressed for my job, but dang.... the totally seasonally inappropriate (for my environment, anyway) clothes in those catalogs are just TOO FREAKING cute!!! The hubby looked at the boden catalog one time and went "you wanna spend $160 on THAT top?!?!?!" Well.... kinda. I don't want to really spend the money, persay, but oooooh, I can dream about wearing that darling top to work, can't I????

Yep. You're understood!

barefoot gardener said...

Kati-

LOL! I forgot I need the body to go IN the clothes! Durn it, that just took a lot of the shine off it for me.

Unless...you don't happen to know some place where I can buy the body, too, do you?

Anonymous said...

I totally understand where you are coming from. I usually shop at consignment stores, ebay, goodwill, places like that... but then an occasion comes along where I need to buy a gift for someone, and I walk into a store or a mall and suddenly I think...well just one new thing... I'm usually good about it, I can fight it, but it can be really really hard.

I also have a closet full of tee shirts and fabric scraps that I keep meaning to turn into a quilt. mmmmm hmmmm.

barefoot gardener said...

lotta-

Oh, yeah, I have the fabric bin, too. It usually sits there frowning at me because I ignore it way too much. I always MEAN to get to it, but...