It starts off small, a little WANTING, a little attraction, then desire just this side of obsession. That is how it began for me.
My watchband lost its loops and the end of the strap kept flapping. It still functioned but was annoying. Then it got a little tear. I was relieved. That meant the watchband was beginning to break and I was in danger of loosing the watch.
Now I had a reason (and an excuse) to look for a replacement.
This is where the trouble began.
Looking for bands brought to the watch departments. The watch departments presented a challenge. Nice watchbands cost $25 and above. A new watch (with band) can be purchased for less than $20. What to do? What to do? I became attracted to the dome-y crystal faces, the colors of the bezels, the feel of the weight, the variety of colors. Soon my wandering eyes had left the case of watchbands entirely and I had strayed well away from the $20 watches into the land of absurdity. Luckily. Cold water on face, original mission re-established, back to the first counter: WATCHBANDS!
And money. What costs less? Is my mission to strap a low cost time piece to my arm or is it to get a watchband or is it to save money or ?is it to REFUSE TO ADD TO THE WASTE PRODUCED ON THIS PLANET?
Yikes! “Mission Creep”
Watchband; Money; Environment
So now I have many ways to practice excess. Too much money, too many things, too many priorities. What the heck!! Yes, I want to “practice these principles in all my affairs”. I want to maintain a modest environmental profile (not to waste what is still useful), I want to be modest in my spending (not to spend capriciously but to get value for the price) and I want to have a watch- useful in convenience as well as function. But I got so twirled up! I got caught in the seduction of NEW! I got wound up in the idea of thrift – where a new watch costs less than a watchband, and I nearly violated my ethic of holding on to that which works rather than replacing it.
A lot of energy for a watchband – but it is the way I process things. I go this way and that, breaking old patterns of thought and behavior, trying on different ideas to find the medium way. What comes first? Environment or desire for NEW / SHINEY ? Is it thrift or environment? Is it replace or repair? What am I feeling? Where is my breath? What are ENDURING values?
I found the perfect band: not fancy, not elaborate – just like my yoga practice – it is functional and it is just right. And it is PURPLE! That was my playful indulgence. To get a purple band. And I am best pleased. The TRIP was worth it.
How do you manage your desires and ethics? What is your process; today?
Kyczy Hawk E-RYT200, RTY500 is the author of “Yoga and the Twelve Step Path”, a leader of Y12SR classes, and the creator of SOAR(tm) (Success Over Addiction and Relapse) a teacher certification training she holds with her good friend Kent Bond RYT500. Find out more about her, her classes and the training at www.yogarecovery.com
Kyczy Hawk E-RYT200 is the author of “Yoga and the Twelve Step Path”, a leader of Y12SR classes, and the creator of SOAR(tm) (Success Over Addiction and Relapse) a teacher certification training she holds with her good friend Kent Bond E-RYT500. Find out more about her, her classes and the training at www.yogarecovery.com