Aparigraha

One of Yoga’s Universal Principles that has struck a chord with me lately is Non-Accumulation. I want to control my urge to be such a part of the consumer society. On one of the current affair shows last night the presenter followed a mother on a shopping trip where she spent over $3000 dollars on an outfit for her university aged daughter. The presenter seemed to approach the story like it was a run-of-the-mill, everyday occurrence. You’d think she would have asked the girl “Do you realize that much money could support an entire family for a good month or two?”

This story preceded one on celebrities and how they are the barometer of style and indicate to the young people of today the “must have” items for the season. What a load of …! They might be referring to a certain percentage but I’m positive there are loads of kids out there who couldn’t give a toss about what mobile phone Paris was using this week or what frock Misha Barton endorses! They should do a story on the kids who reinvent second hand clothes and wear no-name brands as a conscientious choice. That was us! We were never envious of the “Reebok Girls” at school – we just thought they were deluded clones.Since then, I seem to have become guilty of the mindless over consumerism that Current Affair programs seem to like to normalize. I bought a Nike yoga mat and I’ve only done Yoga twice!!!

My god, Izzy has all the mod-cons and toys a kid his age could want and I don’t believe he’s any happier than he would be without a good portion of it. I mean every kids got to have a certain amount of cultural capital – a pushy, some sports equipment and great big box of Lego (and maybe a game of Simpson’s’ monopoly and some crafty of course), but he’s just weighed down with all this extra stuff! I’m determined to recycle all of Izzy’s toy collection for Anakin. That way I can lessen my guilt of supporting the multinational corporations and the burden I have put on the worlds resources by purchasing all this stuff in the first place!

I want to do a great big clean out and recycle anything we don’t need. To just leave the top quality essentials. I want our house to reflect the Japanese minimalist look - the 'just moved in look' not the 'lived in look'. And I never want to forget my green bags again!!