'Stuffocation'

Leading on from 'affluenza' I've come across yet another condition from which we might be suffering: ‘Stuffocation’ as described by James Wallman in his book ‘Living More with Less.’ This affliction is caused by the over accumulation of ‘stuff’ and can lead to us feeling burdened down and miserable.  Yep, I reckon I have a touch of that.

A cure for ‘stuffocation’ is to sort out and give anything you no longer need to a charity shop.  We’ve had a flurry of books which tumbled out with an ever-increasing sense of urgency … ‘Why am I so disorganised’ … ‘Banish Clutter Forever’ … ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying’ … ‘Enough: Breaking Free from the World of Excess.’

Although the sorting and giving away might be difficult, I suspect it’s not as difficult as ‘breaking free from the world of excess’.  It’s not easy to resist the new season’s fashions or the latest gadgets and gizmoes is it? 
And, I remind myself, our economy depends on us all continuing to buy, buy, buy so companies put massive efforts into putting temptation before us as we go through the day.

Apparently, we are all pretty well ‘primed’ psychologically to like something new and to buy the things which help us to fit in with the tribe.  Which is, I guess, why advertising companies employ so many psychologists.  We’re easy meat when it comes to tempting us with a new this or that, and the resisting is often so hard to do!