Nathan Key

From Guest Blogger, Christopher Cocca

I heard today that consumer spending on retail rose 1 percent in the latest metric, despite projections of a .8 percent decrease for whatever period was being measured. People are still buying stuff. Decreased (on the whole) gas prices certainly help.

I got $50 from my grandmother for my birthday and tried really hard to spend it last night. It's still in my pocket. It's not that I'm cheap, it's just that lately, I'm finding it harder and harder to find things I actually want to buy. I'm not a consumer of art in the way some people are. I listen to new music for free on the radio (or on YouTube or seeqpod or Pandora or Facebook or Last) and I've never been one to hoard albums or books as artifacts or totems. Remember those 35 bones I had to spend on iTunes? I still have 15 left. I'm not against spending, but in the economy of gift money, the only thing worse than spending on food or bills is spending arbitrarily. You're supposed to put some thought into it. I put so much thought into it that the money usually ends up floating into the general account where it eventually becomes burger and wings money.

I blame my junior high religiosity (yes) for this: one year I gave up buying baseball cards for Lent because of how obsessed I'd become with them. When it was over, the collector's impulse was gone. I'd been going strong with sports cards and trading cards and comic books till then (oh, 90s foil-embossed, laser-eyed comics boom, how I do still miss you), but I never really got back into the discipline that enthusiast collecting requires. The bottoming out of the boom (next month: 11 variant covers!), my lack of funds, and the baseball strike also helped.

I don't need to buy music.I also don't need to buy books. There are libraries and, let's be honest, blogs. Wikipedia. Project Gutenberg. This guy. I don't need collectibles, and even though I like them, they're more fun if you're not buying them yourself. (The exceptions here are vintage, middle-grade comic books, like "Batman and The Outsiders #1" or other things from the 70s and 80s that don't cost a lot but look cool in your office). I already own "Watchmen" and "Heart of Darkness" and "Leaves of Grass" and 3/4s of the so-you-wanna-be-a-writer cannon. The truth is that I have a lot of stuff, but not because I enjoy collecting or even because all of these things are worth having. I've had a lot of birthdays and Christmases and interests and buy-one-get-one-half-off-at-Borders trips. I stopped buying movies a long time ago.

I'm thinking of writing a craiglist's post. "Wanted: a good, legal way to spend 50 bucks. Best offer of stuff for my half-bill wins." Nathan's readers, you have first crack.

Is my consumerist anxiety heightened by the economic crisis? Not really. It's more a poverty of enthusiasm for music or art or literature as products or for their creators as those with access to some sublime aesthetic I'm otherwise cut off from. Maybe I'm getting arrogant. Maybe I'm getting older. I think the more we practice our crafts, the less mystical these become and the less mystified we are with their processes. In the move from fanboy to artist, we lose things. If we're growing, the tastes and agendas and priorities of our heroes become more like those of our parents (our hipper, more famous parents) as we stake our own claims.

50 bucks. Seriously. Make me an offer.

* * *

From Nathan: "My good friend Christopher Cocca was nice enough to let me borrow his words today so I can concentrate on another job interview. He's an amazing writer / thinker and you should be reading his blogs daily (if you're not already). Send him some love by visiting one or all of his websites:

www.christophercocca.net
christophercocca.wordpress.com
christophercocca.mlblogs.com/

"Thanks Chris! I owe you one!"

The newspaper is filled with dreadful stories about the economy. The Today Show is showing segments on how "regifting" is OK in the current state of the nation. Families are frightened that they won't be able to make enough money to cover their budgets. And those who are currently employed aren't sure that their jobs will be around next month.

In some ways, however, we've actually been able to live better lives because of all the craziness that's happening in the business sector. OK, making a subjective claim like "better" is rather difficult to do when things are so tough out there, so I'll give you four examples of what I mean when I say that we can still live well in desperate times.

One: In desperate times, people learn that they aren't ultimately in charge of the way things work. When we "make money" and "amass wealth" it's easy to feel like the masters of our own destiny. But the reality is, we're all one paycheck away from poverty. And none of us have a secure future simply because we've worked hard. Now, this can be rather depressing for some who have put all their hope in the work of their own hands. But, it should actually be a very freeing thought. There is a relief that sets in when we realize that we don't have to control everything- that there are forces outside of our influence that will have their way no matter how hard we work, how much we pray, and how good we are.

Two: In desperate times, those who have much are given the opportunity to share with those who don't have much. I've witnessed this personally over the past few months. Since losing my own job, my family and friends alike have offered encouragement, housing, and help at every step of the way. It's a little overwhelming sometimes to see the generosity of others at work in my life. And to think that I might have missed seeing that side of my friends and family if it weren't for our current situation. I'm glad for the chance to see their generosity, and I hope that I can be generous with what I have, too.

Three: In desperate times, we assess what's important and we cut out a lot of the needless extravagances that weren't really important in the first place. Living within our means, within our budget, without the excesses that we might have indulged in when we had disposable income, usually gives us more time and energy to focus on what we really wanted to do in the first place. For instance, a walk is a much better way to spend time together than a movie (although there's nothing wrong with a movie, either). If we cut the entertainment budget and fill that time with personal interactions- the rewards are priceless.

Four: In desperate times, we remember to pray and fast and fill our lives with those who are practicing spiritual disciplines. I read an article the other day that said that church attendance across the nation is up 30 or 40 percent. When things are going well, people forget that they need salvation from the human condition and of course, this is why the persecuted church thrives. Desperate times requires letting go of the idea that we can "make it" on our own. For we cannot continue to hold onto a rugged individualism when caught in an economic downturn. If we do life the same way we always have, we've missed out on the chance to learn something new from our situation.

Don't miss out on the bigger meaning of life.

Note: I neglected my blogging on Thursday and Friday due to a back injury that made it rather difficult to sit and type. I'm doing much better today after a few days of rest.