I was getting ready to head out of the house today and I looked down and noticed a stain on my sweater. Ordinarily this would result in a mad Spray n’ Wash frenzy followed by the hair dryer, but since I’m here in Vermont, I just shrugged and hoped I would remember to throw it in the washer later (which, seeing that the sweater is from Forever 21 means that it will shrink to the size of a Barbie doll sweater and I’ll never see it again lol).
When we moved to Vermont, I purposely left my Yves St. Laurent espadrilles and Armani foundation at home (I do miss that Armani foundation though, SO worth the $70 trust me). It’s so weird because I have been so image and status-conscious my whole life. I was runner-up for Best Dressed in our high school Senior Superlatives (ha ha thanks Bree L.). My house, my car, my clothes, my face, I’ve spent so much time and money on all of this stuff. But up here, I’ve just really lost interest in any of it. I mean sure I see all that fancy ski stuff up at Stratton and in the outlets in Manchester, and I totally want it all. But in our little town, it just doesn’t matter (and fortunately we’re 30 miles down the road from Manchester and I hate going north).
I think the main thing is that Vermont is a very rural state, and you’re not like, around a lot of people all the time. So you don’t have that need to keep up with everyone around like, you go out to dinner, you see someone in a sick pair of boots, and you just have to have those boots. Your life won’t be complete without the boots. Ya’ll I used to live like that. I work pretty hard and I felt like I deserved $500 shoes because I was just busting it constantly. But that’s kind of ridiculous because the shoes are really for other people (I mean, don’t get me wrong, there is a huge difference between $500 shoes and $50 shoes, you can feel it) but I. don’t. care. After say 25+ years of trying to fill that endless pit of superficial desire, it’s really gone by the wayside. A miracle! Also, while I still keep up my business instagram, the only instagram accounts I follow and engage with are New England photographers. And it’s so nice, it’s about nature, not status and showing off what you have or trying to sell a certain lifestyle. I try hard not to get caught up in it all and go crazy thinking I need new Uggs (though they are soft and comfortable) what about you? What are your feelings on consumerism and rural life in general?
