Shopping to be Hipster: Confessions of an artsy materialist.

On my hard won path to Hipster-hood I’ve recently purchased my first pair of thick-rimmed glasses. A pair of on-ear headphones. And a novel by Haruki Murakami. And a non-fiction novel by Truman Capote. And a collection of short stories by the legendary Ray Bradbury (Who also wears thick rimmed glasses by the way.)

         

(We could be brothers.)

If you my dear reader, smile your radiant smile and use it to light your way through the murky fog of artiness that steams off that above list, you will realize something.

I have been making a lot of purchases.

Yes! Guilty! I have been doing a lot of shopping in the past few days. Being bored and tired of staring at the clock and crying, I decided to get some shopping done.

All on my pop’s money of course. I’m clever enough not to ask for pocket money. And a job in Dubai is more about the experience than the money.

Sorry Dad.

But I’m not apologizing to anyone else. You see it’s always been deep and thoughtful to say that money can’t buy you happiness (Read: Cliche). And movies and books often portray materialists for whom the acquirement and ownership of thing is merely to fulfill some emotional void within them.

So people tend to frown at you when you’ve had a bit of a splurge. To these people I say: “Yeah…..well, screw you!” I then proceed to keep my fingers in my ears and scream loudly until they flee like fleet foxes in terror.

Truth be told for all my bravado (Nanananaaanaa……I can’t hear you.) I m feeling a little guilty. But this is not the regret of a person with an actual problem, merely the warning pang of a healthy conscience that has recently seen me spending heavily.

And there is the fact that I don’t feel empty. I feel quite pleased with my purchases actually. My new glasses look good, my new headphones sound great and my new books are absorbing reads.

Sometimes material things can make you happy. There is no shame in admitting to that. There is no weakness in the fact that you chose to rely on something outside of you for your happiness. Heck this world is a harsh, cruel place (It’s beautiful too, obliged to note that).  No one really knows the formula to happiness all the time so we take what we can, when we can.

Now there lies left only the wrapping paper and plastic bags, the debris of my shopping spree. But that will be swept away in time and along with it hopefully the smidgen of guilt that is still lodged irritatingly somewhere inside of me.