I don't have very many vices. I drink occasionally, but really only when I'm at a party or we are entertaining family. I don't do drugs, except for the odd over-the-counter sleep aid here and there. I don't gamble, which is strange considering where I live. But I do love to shop.
I love shopping for almost anything but clothes and DVD/Blu-Rays in particular. My movie collection has risen above the 1400 mark. My closet is bursting at the seams, pun fully intended. I'm crazy about it. I have clothes I probably haven't touched in years. I have a stack of about 250 DVD's that are still unwatched. It's like a disease.
And like any addiction, I go from high to high, looking for my next score. An Elie Tahari tie? Sure, why not? Ooh, wing tips from Florsheim. I don't have those. Terminator 2 has another release on Blu-Ray? The feeling, the high, I get is hard to describe. It's like you've got these nagging thoughts, this weird empty feeling in the pit of your stomach, and this noise is talking to you...no, yelling at you. Your palms get all sweaty. Your neck feels clammy and your senses are heightened. Sometimes its so bad, it feels like I might puke. But then I buy that thing. That Old Navy scarf. Or that discounted DVD of the Karate Kid. And suddenly it all goes away. It's all quiet and puppy dogs and sunshine. Sick, I tell you. Sick.
Part of me wants to figure out where this sickness came from. Psychoanalysis would probably point to growing up in the Philippines comfortably but by no means rich. Going further back, you could probably trace it to my parents spoiling me as a child with Voltron toys and almost any Transformer I wanted. If you believe in Nature versus Nurture, then you could probably say I got it from my grandmother who is kind of a hoarder. Whatever the reason, I am afflicted and have to deal.
What I really think it comes down to is that I'm a collector. I like to have fullsets of things. Anything else would be positively uncivilized. This would explain why I had to have Terminator Salvation on Blu-Ray, since I already had the other 3 movies. That goes for X3 too since I loved the first two and had to complete my set. The good news here is that I've pretty much gotten all the DVD's I could possibly want thus my purchases have become fewer and farther between.
Now, clothes are a different story since there are always new styles and trends coming out every season. And for a bit there, I was hooked on that too. But as I've grown a little older and I've learned more about fashion, I've realized the power of classic pieces more and more. An Yves St. Laurent grey wool tie will always be in style. The same goes for a Polo Ralph Lauren dark blue heavy cotton tie. You get classic pieces like a pair of good khakis, a couple pair of dark wash jeans, and a grey v-neck sweater. These aren't just clothes, disposable bits of fabric that rotate in and out of your collection. These are investments that you can wear year in and year out because they are timeless.
As a result of this, I'm not really into buying trendy things. I'm more focused on versatile and timeless pieces. The good news is that I already have most of that so my collection is almost complete. Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Now if I could just find a good navy blue blazer.
I love shopping for almost anything but clothes and DVD/Blu-Rays in particular. My movie collection has risen above the 1400 mark. My closet is bursting at the seams, pun fully intended. I'm crazy about it. I have clothes I probably haven't touched in years. I have a stack of about 250 DVD's that are still unwatched. It's like a disease.
And like any addiction, I go from high to high, looking for my next score. An Elie Tahari tie? Sure, why not? Ooh, wing tips from Florsheim. I don't have those. Terminator 2 has another release on Blu-Ray? The feeling, the high, I get is hard to describe. It's like you've got these nagging thoughts, this weird empty feeling in the pit of your stomach, and this noise is talking to you...no, yelling at you. Your palms get all sweaty. Your neck feels clammy and your senses are heightened. Sometimes its so bad, it feels like I might puke. But then I buy that thing. That Old Navy scarf. Or that discounted DVD of the Karate Kid. And suddenly it all goes away. It's all quiet and puppy dogs and sunshine. Sick, I tell you. Sick.
Part of me wants to figure out where this sickness came from. Psychoanalysis would probably point to growing up in the Philippines comfortably but by no means rich. Going further back, you could probably trace it to my parents spoiling me as a child with Voltron toys and almost any Transformer I wanted. If you believe in Nature versus Nurture, then you could probably say I got it from my grandmother who is kind of a hoarder. Whatever the reason, I am afflicted and have to deal.
What I really think it comes down to is that I'm a collector. I like to have fullsets of things. Anything else would be positively uncivilized. This would explain why I had to have Terminator Salvation on Blu-Ray, since I already had the other 3 movies. That goes for X3 too since I loved the first two and had to complete my set. The good news here is that I've pretty much gotten all the DVD's I could possibly want thus my purchases have become fewer and farther between.
Now, clothes are a different story since there are always new styles and trends coming out every season. And for a bit there, I was hooked on that too. But as I've grown a little older and I've learned more about fashion, I've realized the power of classic pieces more and more. An Yves St. Laurent grey wool tie will always be in style. The same goes for a Polo Ralph Lauren dark blue heavy cotton tie. You get classic pieces like a pair of good khakis, a couple pair of dark wash jeans, and a grey v-neck sweater. These aren't just clothes, disposable bits of fabric that rotate in and out of your collection. These are investments that you can wear year in and year out because they are timeless.
As a result of this, I'm not really into buying trendy things. I'm more focused on versatile and timeless pieces. The good news is that I already have most of that so my collection is almost complete. Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Now if I could just find a good navy blue blazer.
I'm sure there are support groups out there for you. =)
ReplyDelete