I am not sure what it means to anyone else, but retail therapy has taken on certain meanings for me. For one, it means since I am in retail, I must need therapy, especially since recently opening a sustainable living-themed brick-and-mortar store in the near literal shadow of a global entity named after the world’s biggest jungle (a place, in both cases, currently being exploited to near extinction by what might be the world’s most destructive economic policies.)
For another, I think sourcing sustainable products from around the world is its own kind of therapy, at least for what ails me. It inspires me to see so many doing so much with so much less so consciously everywhere I turn.
It reminds me that we are all in this together, which is something I sometimes think I need to be reminded of more often. Because when I remember we are one, I am compelled to welcome the rest of the world back into my humble bubble, and ask it what it has in store for me. Because then I do my best to bring the best, most delightful and affordable sustainable products the world has to offer into Sustainable Exchange for you. That's when I really get my shop on.
Then, for me, that’s when retail therapy means paying it forward. For real.
2 comments
Thank you for this Dan, appreciate this as we embark into the holiday season when truthfully, paying it forward is what we should all be doing.
I’m visiting Novato for the first time next week, and can’t wait to stop in for a visit. Thoughtful, sustainable shopping choices seem like a no brainer to me, but sadly can be difficult to come by in the far East Bay. Thank you for shepherding the commitment and sharing the possibilities with others. ~ cheers