Note: bulletin from David Report

I stumbled on a free white-paper today titled “I Shop therefore I am” from the folks at David Report. It’s worth sharing - here’s a snippet:

“Luxury brands are very good at selling us ‘parts’ of the luxury lifestyle: first class travel, bespoke fragrances, and atelier worthy chocolate creations. But by accumulating all the parts, we believe they’ll somehow fit into a perfect whole. But in reality, the whole is the beginning. It has to be the starting point. Otherwise you’re trapped in the vicious cycle of always needing the next ‘part’. You’re starting with incompleteness - so it always feels like there’s a piece missing. The whole must be - and is - the sense of self from whence the journey begins.”

And a parting shot from Sante Poromma, a teacher at the Zenbuddhist Society in Stockholm:

“Conclusively one can say that our modern hedonism and shopping frenzy has given our lives, not more life, but these side effects: we have become disharmonious and stressed. We have lost touch with our inner clarity. We have lost our ability to concentrate and are easily bored. We’re practically never completely present. And the things that are supposed to entertain and feed our minds - books, theatre, music, movies have become shallower and louder, less serious. The finer shades of life has been lost. Our inner, mental room has been sold to the market forces. The consumption demons runs our lives. We are the losers.”

Well, then… this makes my talk of dead woodcocks seem downright cheery.

Never mind: if you have 20 minutes and you’re interested in lohas, conscious consumption, simplicity, slowing down and the evolving luxury market, it’s worth giving this bulletin a read.