I have a total love hate relationship with shopping.
I love having new things and I love looking good. Who doesn't?
As usual I looked into it and it turns out that once again science can back me
up on this- research shows that retail therapy has real positive effect on low
mood, and doesn't necessarily lead to later regret either. I'm not even
particularly fashion conscious (just ask my sister!) but shopping is a
temptation that’s hard to escape. Sometimes, if things are going a bit shit, I
have a look round the shops on my way home. On a good day I can find myself a
bargain, and carry on home with lighter pockets and a little bit more of a
spring in my step. What I don’t like though, is what happens if it doesn't go
well.
Despite my love of things,
I hate shopping. Maybe I'm just an excessively nervy person but I just find the
whole atmosphere exhausting. I hate rifling through the shelves, I hate the
pressure of being in a shop and not being able to find the thing I want, and I hate
having to shuffle past people to do it! That’s without even mentioning the
issue of sizing! If there is a systematic rule to it I can only imagine that it
depends on the shop, the garment, the time of day, time of year, maybe the
position of the planets. I haven’t figured it out yet, and actually I've just
decided to stop wearing trousers altogether now because the experience of
trying to find a pair that fit properly is frankly demeaning. There is definitely
a dark side to shopping.
My solution to this? Good question. I don’t think I’ll ever
quite kick the habit, and maybe I wouldn't want to, but I think it’s definitely
worth bearing in mind that while shopping can be just what you need on a hard
day, it has real ‘poisoned chalice’ potential!
- Gee
Mum failed massively this week - booooo!
