Distractions

Just back from a 'shopping spree' together with a friend. Well, actually nothing was ever bought, but just doing that (not buying) took us well over half the day.
Have you noticed how everyone seems to be in such a rush to buy things, to shop, to consume, to spend, to splash out! It's Christmas, and even in a country where probably only around 5% of the population is Christian, this is "the season to be jolly, la la la la la", for bus-ine-sses.

We managed to walk around, comparing and complaining about the price, the specifications that don't exactly fit our requirements (better said, wants), about the 'freebies' we could squeeze out of each vendor... all the time, our minds hovered and dwelled on but a laptop and a digital camera. Material goods made of cold alloys and churned out of an even more mechanical production line. Goods we didn't even buy. Sure, they are cheap compared to other places in the world, but when it comes down to the basics, do we really need things we already have?

The walls and pavements, shop windows and human billboards, buses and taxis, neo-lights and lazer lights flash advertisements for the latest gadgets, for the 'hippest' clothes, for the most fashionable foreign brands, for the most 'popular' accessories and jewelries. They rob people of their basic needs and pockets, while fulfilling with empty wants and temporary satisfaction and happiness. Everywhere and wherever you go and turn, dazzling lights, artificially moulded model modern men and women, grippling sounds of music and dance, and enticing smells of fragrance and foods consume you in a raw, but silent high.

And I found myself caught in this pulling whirlpool...wanting, desiring, craving. But, luckily, at least this time, I resisted and stood firm.

But undoubtedly, sometime soon, other tidal waves of sensual distractions and physical pleasures will try to capture the body and mind.

And I thought Christmas was mainly about giving, caring, loving and sharing.