On Material Possessions, Anxieties, and Advertising

I was supposed to study.... but then I chose to write another blog post first. hehehe

Anyway...

My younger brother just received a brand new Itouch for his birthday recently, what he received is even more expensive than all my gadgets combined! (and I'm not complaining!)

Honestly, I'm a bit envious; 4 of my siblings already have one. But then ever since I was young and being the 5th child of 7 in the family, I'm used to not being given that many material possessions. Even my birthday was strategically placed, it's on the 2nd of January where everyone is tired post-Christmas and New Year, the holidays are just over, and also everyone is broke. hahaha. So even my birthday is not really celebrated.

I'm also second-hand person. Most of the gadgets I possess have been handed over like my cell phone and laptop. Even my clothes are mostly 2nd hand. But then I guess for me that's a good thing, since I do not have as much anxiety as other people who have many things.

There are 3 types of anxieties as I was reminded earlier in our practice for volunteer work. The first one is trying to get what you want. The second is maintaining what you have, and the third is losing what you possess.

Like for example, you want a brand new smart phone like the newly released Iphone5. You really want to have one since all your friends have one too! And of course you don't want to be left out, so if you're a student you try to bribe your parents to buy one for you, or you try to save even if that means you have to skip lunch just so you can save your allowance. If you're working, you will save and if that means you need to ride the Jeepneys instead of riding a cab on the way to work, then you will do it. You're put in so much anxiety just to be able to get that Iphone5!

Then once you have it, it also puts you in so much anxiety. You don't just want it lying around, it might get stolen! You can't even walk in crowded places now, as you are paranoid about petty thieves who might know you have one. You wouldn't even ride a public transportation! Now you have to go to places in a friggin' car.

Now it gets broken, or it gets lost. You are now faced with so much stress, so much anxiety just over one material possession! Just see how one thing can put you in so much misery? And it's not only one thing, you have hundreds of wants, things to maintain, and things you lose! You're experiencing these endless anxieties everyday.

The solution to this is to not have too many wants; you don't need them in the first place. In this way you're put in less anxiety, less worries. Don't believe in the media and advertisers. I remember in the recent COCINA food bazaar, there was a speaker during the afternoon who was talking to these college students who were marketing majors. And she was explaining that in advertising, it's very crucial to make the people think that they need your product; otherwise they won't buy them. So the media and advertising agencies are really trying to condition are minds so that we would buy the products they offer.

Don't believe everything that you hear. You must actually be very careful in what you hear, or who you hear from. The modern man's problem is that he is too engrossed in the consumerist world we now live in, that's why he's so stressed; he mindlessly follows what he hears especially from the media. "Eat this! Buy that! This will make you happy!" He's thrown here and there, trying to follow the demands of his senses, like a passenger of a carriage who's got five wild horses. And of course the advertisers have caught your senses by the neck, thus have caught you also.

We should be discerning, be very discerning. We should also be the masters of the senses, and not the slaves of them. And lastly, there is value in simplicity.

Think about it.