An Overrated Green Scarf

Guy: Why do you shop?
Gal: When I shop, the world gets better, and the world is better, but then it’s not, and I need to do it again…

Sounds like the samsaric rebirths a shopaholic is stuck in? The movie ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ tells of how a girl desperately yearned to buy a green scarf for an interview. She felt that the scarf would complete her presentation, that it would change her whole life. But when she finally got to use it for the interview, conditions are such that it wasn’t appropriate to use. Eventually, she got the job anyway. Now, how often have we assumed that a material item would turn our life around, that the possession of which would be the tipping point towards more good stuff in life? (In my case sometimes, it would be books… every one of which seems to hold the magic key to bettering my life by quantum leaps and bounds. This is still spiritual shopping, as long as we don’t embrace a Dharma method to seriously work with.) Some things really do matter, but most don’t really. If you don’t think this is true, you can make a list of ‘green scarves’ and see how them become insignificant later. We are defined by what we think, say and do, not what we gather.

Drowning in credit card debt, the girl decides to renounce her shopaholic ways and clear her bills at the same time – by auctioning off her branded stuff. Here’s the irony – the sale was warmly welcomed by other shopaholics, and the green scarf becomes the key prize contested for. ‘Everyone’ wanted to be the next girl in the green scarf. She had gained fame as ‘the girl in the green scarf’ after writing about her experience of disillusion with unmindful shopping. Looks like the shoppers missed the point. And guess what? In real life, many shoppers missed the point too. They got enamoured with the scarf featured in the film, leading to a shopping frenzy. Because the scarf played a central role in the film, the other branded stuff kind of became calefare stars (extras). No, you shopaholics out there, I won’t be posting a picture of the scarf!

Question: Why do you shop?
Answer: To get what I need. Period.