You can really like your material stuff. You can even think that part of your identity is connected to those things, but nonetheless they remain separate from you. In contrast, your experiences really are part of you. We are the sum total of our experiences.”
Dr. Thomas Gilovich, psychology professor at Cornell University
There’s been a lot published online recently about the link between money and happiness. The idea being whilst buying thing can give us a happy buzz, the presence of those things over time can alter our relationship with the ‘thing’ until it becomes mundane and doesn’t bring pleasure any more. Instead, experiences can have a much greater impact on our lives. People are more likely to bond over shared experiences than over the ownership of similar things. It’s counterintuitive, perhaps, to glean greater joy from something you experience once, over something which physically stays with you, but experiences are more likely to impact how you t think, how you see things and how you relate to others. Whereas things are just that, things.
Do you have a list of things you’d like to do before you hit a milestone? I do. This year I have decided to tackle that list. This is about new experiences, making the most of what’s going on all around me, and not spending all my money in LK Bennett.