No art today...
I got distracted by a lengthy offline discussion of home improvements, garden plans and so on. Which was great and led to some interesting insights.
For one thing I've been mislabeling a few things. I do not actually do impulse spending. We had a long discussion on what that meant, and impulse spending does not mean creating a reasonable budget within one's means and then windowshopping on impulse for entertainment until by the time the money actually arrives, vast amounts of anticipation have been whetted for something very specific that washes up at the top of a well organized wish list. One that's subject to priorities.
I've been calling it impulse spending, but what I mean is that it's a really good thing to spend money in ways that you maximize your enjoyment.
Being able to decide between several pleasant alternatives at the time, after much anticipation, is something good. But I'm also a pretty darn effective bargain hunter who's pared down my entertainment budget to the point of absurd efficiency.
She asked one telling question that had me laughing and agreeing with her. She asked the last time I bought something that afterward I really regretted it and asked myself why I bought it, and didn't have any good answers.
Er, that was in the shelter and I bought a music tape from a band that I'd liked their previous album and didn't like the second album at all.
Er, that isn't exactly Impulse Purchasing.
I'm actually doing things I always wanted to do. She came up with a good term for it, Wow money, and I do enjoy the bargainhunting aspect of it as much as the actual spending. I like buying real art from live artists far more than things that have been manufactured except when I'm getting books or tools and supplies. Either I buy art supplies or art, it's become pretty major as a passion for me. Art supplies break even.
It's not an impulse if I planned it for years and then it came in reach and I did it. It is spending, it is entertainment and pleasure, and it is doing something for myself every time I build on what I've already got and make my life a bit richer than last month. I've been systematically catching up on things that I either used to have and left behind without wanting to, or things I needed for a long time and did without because they weren't in reach, or things I just want a lot.
But even that, like collecting art, was something I wanted to do for years and couldn't do. I've got my ACEO album now as well as my Houly paintings coming, and that will let me continue collecting art when I've filled the walls with my purchases and my own favorite works. Heck, I'm out of wall space already and some things will come down when I get The Kill and Archaeopteryx.
So it isn't impulse spending. It's planned and the planning and anticipation are a good part of the enjoyment. And like the taste of the apple I finally ate after doing the still life, it's all the sweeter for the wait.
For one thing I've been mislabeling a few things. I do not actually do impulse spending. We had a long discussion on what that meant, and impulse spending does not mean creating a reasonable budget within one's means and then windowshopping on impulse for entertainment until by the time the money actually arrives, vast amounts of anticipation have been whetted for something very specific that washes up at the top of a well organized wish list. One that's subject to priorities.
I've been calling it impulse spending, but what I mean is that it's a really good thing to spend money in ways that you maximize your enjoyment.
Being able to decide between several pleasant alternatives at the time, after much anticipation, is something good. But I'm also a pretty darn effective bargain hunter who's pared down my entertainment budget to the point of absurd efficiency.
She asked one telling question that had me laughing and agreeing with her. She asked the last time I bought something that afterward I really regretted it and asked myself why I bought it, and didn't have any good answers.
Er, that was in the shelter and I bought a music tape from a band that I'd liked their previous album and didn't like the second album at all.
Er, that isn't exactly Impulse Purchasing.
I'm actually doing things I always wanted to do. She came up with a good term for it, Wow money, and I do enjoy the bargainhunting aspect of it as much as the actual spending. I like buying real art from live artists far more than things that have been manufactured except when I'm getting books or tools and supplies. Either I buy art supplies or art, it's become pretty major as a passion for me. Art supplies break even.
It's not an impulse if I planned it for years and then it came in reach and I did it. It is spending, it is entertainment and pleasure, and it is doing something for myself every time I build on what I've already got and make my life a bit richer than last month. I've been systematically catching up on things that I either used to have and left behind without wanting to, or things I needed for a long time and did without because they weren't in reach, or things I just want a lot.
But even that, like collecting art, was something I wanted to do for years and couldn't do. I've got my ACEO album now as well as my Houly paintings coming, and that will let me continue collecting art when I've filled the walls with my purchases and my own favorite works. Heck, I'm out of wall space already and some things will come down when I get The Kill and Archaeopteryx.
So it isn't impulse spending. It's planned and the planning and anticipation are a good part of the enjoyment. And like the taste of the apple I finally ate after doing the still life, it's all the sweeter for the wait.