The decision was made after she started thinking about how much time was spent shopping.
– I did a lot of business and did a lot of spontaneous shopping. Often clothes. Finally, I got a thought: Is this a meaningful day when I go shopping? I realized I already had a lot.
To shift focus in 2016 did not become easy. Kerstin had a hard time resisting the urge to buy, so she avoided going to the shops. She borrowed clothes from her sister, repaired broken shoes at the shoemaker’s instead of buying new ones and visited the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation’s change of days.
– Kerstin Åkesson, 30, is an anesthesia nurse in the intensive care unit at the University Hospital in Linköping.
Photo: Peter Holgersson
– It was quite difficult because we are constantly fed with advertising that tries to make us believe that we need just that thing, or that we get a better or easier life if we buy a certain thing. That is usually not the case.
A few times that year she fell for the temptation. She bought an agency at Myrorna, a mobile phone charger and a nativity scene on the trip to Israel that she could not resist. But the year made her realize how much time she had for other things – like exercising and hanging out with friends.
– I do not want to let gadgets define me, but there are other values. Our stuff often takes a lot of time. If you do not consume, you get time for other things that give more joy and meaning.
Even if the purchase stop only applied to that year, Kerstin thinks since then once more before she buys something and likes to shop in second-hand shops or from companies with a focus on sustainability.
– Kerstin Åkesson.
Photo: Peter Holgersson
– I think life will be easier if you do not consume and have too many things. That is my experience. Owning a little can be a freedom. Of course, living in poverty is a different matter. But for me, it’s a freedom not to buy for the sake of buying.
For me, it worked to start radically with a purchase-free year, but everyone has to find their way.
What do you think it depends on?
– It can be difficult to identify in all the noise what is important and what we feel good about. I think it is an emptiness that we are trying to fill, then maybe we choose what is easily accessible; consumption. We are tricked into thinking that we are satisfied with gadgets, but I think it can lead to even more emptiness. There are other more in-depth ways to reach confirmation and feel a sense of belonging.
What is your tip to others who are thinking the same thing?
– It is important to make people aware of their consumption behavior. Only then can you change it. For me, it worked to start radically with a purchase-free year, but everyone has to find their way.
– Kerstin Åkesson, 30, has chosen to have a simpler life in the country.
Photo: Peter Holgersson
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