Aada Sokolnicki
It has been all over the news for the past couple of years that short-form videos from TikTok or basically any social media platform decrease people’s ability to concentrate when offering a sudden burst of endorphins, video after video. Anyhow, I think people have not gotten used to only consuming short clips, but anything that can give them this short-term enjoyment of continuous variation. Finding a way to cure themselves from the lost ability to enjoy life without constant irritation, some have entered the dopamine fast, denying every single thing that brings that quick boost of fulfilment. Perhaps that tells us that many of us are totally and helplessly addicted to consuming, and now, when the magical feeling from the first doses starts to vanish, we are suddenly left with the numb feeling of carving something that does not exist anymore.
Besides the basic necessities in life, most people don’t only need a feeling of belonging and people who care for them, but also the joy of owning something material. There is nothing wrong with that. The large-scale problem, however, is that the world’s economic system is built on the aim of endlessly increasing consumption while we simultaneously struggle with exceeding the world’s renewable resource limits year after year. And the fact is, we, privileged inhabitants of the global north, are used to consuming in absolutely insane amounts.
Thus, exploring the ways people see consuming but also how they feel about it is very interesting. I have tried to observe both my own consumption habits as well as those of those around me. Generally feeling guilty about the privilege I hold, sometimes the amazing feeling I get from perfectly fitting clothes overpowers the shame at the counter. I can simultaneously feel extremely guilty over the products I buy and extremely excited to use them as they simply make me happy. However, even if I have decided to give myself an overconsumption privilege and buy something just because I like it, the shame is always there. It has gone so far that now I feel bad for buying avocados once a month. But not everyone feels this kind of overwhelming self-hatred while consuming. In secondary school, I had a friend who always said she needed the things she bought or wished for. I could not disagree more, because who actually needs new AirPods? To me, there was a clear line between needing and wanting, and I was not annoyed about her getting a new pair of headphones, but the way she presented it as a need. It felt like she was denying that she could overconsume. After all, maybe she just saw the term differently than I did. And perhaps that was exactly what made it possible for her to enjoy everyday life without a constant flow of harsh, consuming guilt.
Even worse than the guilt of everyday overconsumption is when the dissatisfaction starts to creep up. When you wander around the aisles and can’t find anything pleasing, even in your favourite stores. That point is a wake-up call from the lovely haze of consuming, and a good chance for change. Because after all, even while overconsuming, we search for meaningful purchases as those give the best and most long-lasting dose.
When policies and institutions fail to establish rules for the worldwide consumption game, maybe there is something we as single players could change within ourselves to simply make us feel better again. Balancing the ability to enjoy everyday life with consumption guilt can be hard without constantly feeling frustrated, bored and even sad. Maybe the first steps to solve the problem start with guiding the passion to consume to something necessary but simultaneously possible to vary and do often. A good example would be groceries. Finding joy in the daily necessary consumption is at least a way to distract yourself from extra unnecessary consumption. When it comes to fashion, putting time into the process of finding something perfect, instead of buying something similar but not long-lasting, can be very rewarding. It allows you to build up to the thought of a well-deserved purchase as the final goal. I have recently also found more growing fulfilment in consuming experiences instead of consuming material items. Seeing a local sports game, attending a theme party or travelling to the nearby city for a hike along the coastline can give me something much more valuable than any product ever could.
from Dackekuriren Vol 3/25: Dackes’s Inferno, originally published 2025-11-28