Buying and Selling

Most mornings, I take my dog out somewhere between 5:45 and 6:00. Lately, I've been noticing Amazon delivery drivers already making their rounds. Before the sun is up, packages are arriving at people's doors.

The conclusion I draw is pretty simple: we buy a lot of things.

I buy a lot of things.

And then I notice the other end of it. Garage sales. Online listings. People selling things they once bought, sometimes things they barely used.

It makes me wonder: why did we buy them in the first place?

For me, there's often an emotional attachment to buying something. I'm excited about it. I imagine how I'll use it, how much I'll enjoy it, or how it might make some part of my life better. Sometimes the anticipation is a big part of the enjoyment. I have something coming. Something to look forward to.

Then, later, there's another emotion attached to selling it. Maybe relief. Maybe disappointment. Maybe I want the space back, or I could use the money. Something I once wanted has become something I want to get rid of.

The purchase holds hope. The sale holds release.

Of course, sometimes the explanation is ordinary. We used something, enjoyed it, and no longer need it. Our interests change. I don't think every purchase needs to become an investigation into my inner life.

But when I keep repeating the cycle, I think it deserves a little attention.

Have I become a creature of habit? Has the advertising worked? I'm a consumer, and consumers consume. I see something, want something, buy something, and eventually move it along to make room for something else.

There's got to be something different, correct?

Maybe a place to start is asking what I'm hoping the purchase will do for me. Am I interested in the thing itself? Am I bored? Am I looking for comfort, a fresh start, or a little excitement in an otherwise predictable week?

I can ask those questions without scolding myself. I can still enjoy buying something. But I'd like to understand the desire a little better before I hand it my credit card.

Because on those early-morning walks, watching packages arrive before daylight, I keep coming back to one question:

What are we hoping will arrive with the package?

What's sitting in your house that you were once excited to open?

Here, I made this. My gift to you, for taking the time to read.

Images are from my imagination, generated by AI. Writing is all me.