Monday, August 10th, 2026, 8:35 pm
Purchasable Stuff Not the Same as Bliss
Filed under: 
E are exactly two weeks away from Rianne’s birthday and gift ideas need to be based around sentimental value this year, not monetary value. Jewellery and other ‘vanity items’ have always been a waste of money (hard work and sometimes child labour for a bunch of pebbles or metals or whatever). Over the course of three weeks a lot can be done to convert time into joy and joy lasts much longer in the mind than in the shop.
It takes courage and work to make gifts that aren’t just something one scans at the checkout (till) but instead produces one way or another.
The older I get, the more obvious it seems gifting in the “Traditional” (with capital T) sense became merely consumerism and we’re far detached from real scarcities, which aren’t something one can purchase. I was never fond of consumerism and birthdays; over time it becomes easier to explain the “whys”.
