So you like shopping?

I just read this book entitled, "I Want That!:How We All Became Shoppers". I, like many women, love to shop. Mostly. I also feel frustrated, overwhelmed, guilty, irritated and conflicted about shopping.

Lately I've been seeking for some sort of balance in the whole wanting and consuming cycle. What is okay to want? How much luxury can one have without crossing the line into decadence? How much of my "discretionary" income should be spent on entertaining me and my family and how much should be dedicated to the service of others? If I am blessed by God with more than enough money to meet the needs of my family, is it vain to spend that extra on luxury acquisitions and entertainment? I have no answers to these questions.

However, Thomas Hine, the guy who wrote the book I mentioned, refers to an idea about shopping that I find very interesting and not a little amusing. Mr Hine explains a theory postulated by an anthropologist named Daniel Miller. Here is his idea, quoted from "I Want That!" in the chapter entitled "Responsibility: Why Women Take Shopping Seriously":

Shopping has cosmic meaning.
"Shopping does connect with something deep, ancient, and widespread in human behavior... The shopper . . . is more like a priestess. And shopping is a ritual of sacrifice.

"A sacrifice, he says, consists of three stages. The first is the moment of expenditure, such as the slaying of the animal, the offering of the fruits. The second stage involves isolating that portion of the sacrifice that is sacred, which belongs to the gods. In several cultures, this is done when the entrails are burned and the smoke that rises into the air is viewed as the property of the gods. In Jewish tradition, blood, viewed as life itself, is the sacred portion. In Jewish ritual slaughter, it must be returned to God and not eaten by humans. The third part of the sacrifice is when the sacrifice becomes food, and people eat it.

"It's not difficult to see how the first and third aspects of sacrifice are part of daily life, but it's harder to discern the central stage. To what gods are things being sacrificed? And what is the part of it that belongs to the gods?

"Based on his interviews, Miller concluded that the central aspect of the shopper's sacrifice is the aspiration to thrift. Virtually every shopper to whom he spoke expressed a belief that shopping must be done carefully so that money won't be wasted. The shopper should look out for sale items, for coupons, or for items that, though they might be more expensive initially, will last longer and offer greater value in the long run. By striving to be thrifty, the shopper tells herself that she is making a sacrifice to ensure the future of her family. She is careful, not wasteful. By observing the rituals of coupons and discount cards, the shopper can reassure herself and demonstrate to others that she takes a sacred responsibility seriously.

"Shopping is a ritual, and like all rituals, it must be done properly or something will be lost. You must strive not to pay full price. The discounts you receive are an offering to the future."

Amusing, isn't it? I love it--it feels serious, yet it makes me laugh at the same time. It's also a kind of an explanation for why shopping feels so dang good when you get THE deal, and why you feel so virtuous when you pay much less than your purchase was "worth". It's definitely a kind of triumph when a shopper gets what she wants and pays less than she expects. I've felt this triumph so often that I have become "addicted" and I can't bear to pay "full price" (whatever that is) for anything.

This idea of shopping as ritual also has plenty of "good stewardship" overtones--and we all know that we have a responsibility for stewardship and thrift with our resources. How many times have we heard the counsel: live within our incomes, stay out of debt, save for a rainy day?!

However seriously you feel about consumption and excesses and whatever your definition of luxury and entertainment, spending hard-earned money on needed/desired goods is worth thinking about. I'm still setting my own limits and I'm sure they'll change depending on my income, my perception of "righteousness" and, more trivially, my mood and my hormones! Anyway, I still love this idea:

"Shopping is a ritual, and like all rituals, it must be done properly or something will be lost. You must strive not to pay full price. The discounts you receive are an offering to the future."

That's me, high priestess of the outlet mall.