Lately, I have been discovering the joy of wandering in my new garden, plucking at the plum trees, and the tomato vines, and harvesting some lettuce for our dinners. And I have gotten in touch with the gatherer inside. And realized that this ancient part has always been there. Two million years of evolution can’t just vanish. It has just taken different forms. For my teenage daughter and her friends – and for me also until my green conscience grew too loud -, gathering takes the form of shopping expeditions. Men like to collect big cars, and gadgets. Little kids want more and more toys. What served us once very well, has turned into a dysfunctional habit, that is feeding China’s polluting factories.
I propose we become more aware of our gathering instinct, and of the ways that it is moving us, and that we return to its true purpose. Back to nature, spending time in our gardens, not in the malls.
La Marguerite 
” Men like to collect big cars, and gadgets. “
uh, I agree totally with you except on that one bit… Being a man I am no fan of big cars… so, I think there is a ” usually ” missing in your sentence.
I loved my gadgets until they start lasting less and less time. ( my Ipod lasted only two years, a scandal for a $500 piece of junk )
Instead I am collecting books of all kinds. My place looks like a library… 😀
But you’re right, we spend too much time shopping stuff we don’t really need, and it is really bad for us and our environment.
You’re also right in stating that gardening is great for both body and soul as we spend some time breathing some fresh air, exercising and eating our own produces.
Keep up the good work Marguerite and have a wonderful week !
I’m both gathering pages as well as themes within pages with my bookmarking. I’ve linked that to my “gathering instinct” a while a go.
I also highlight the “tasty” sentences in my books, which is equally satisfying. Or maybe I’m just trying to leave my marks on the territory with this. 😉
The general principle is certainly true, we need to channel our instinctive compulsions towards productive – or in any case harmless – efforts. The environment is key.
The big decision for you was to stay out of the malls and start a vegetable garden. The rest goes almost automatic I think.
Edouard, thanks for bringing some nuance to my blanket statement . . . Meryn, thanks for all your research! My main point is about the power of the gathering urge, that I regard as an archetypal force. Rather than condemning Americans for their unbridled consumerism, let us look at the real source, and bring it to light. Through awareness, attitudes can shift. At least, that is my hope.
You’re welcome Marguerite, it is always such a pleasure to read you.
I wonder, does Prad collects cars ? 😉
Marguerite, I think it’s very good of you to make this idea explicit. It shows that human needs are more generic then people think, and that how they manifest themselves will depend in part on the environment.
I mean, what did people do when there weren’t any shopping malls? They are a pretty recent invention. We may look for clues in the developing nations.
You can also observe the gathering urge at myspace and facebook. Some people have made it a game to get as most friends of possible. People can’t really have a thousand friends. It doesn’t make sense.
I find considering time to be important – particularly in relations. We might work and convert money into something that may satisfy at a material level, but we can also make gifts of our time.
We made a rule that we can’t buy gifts for each other. We have a limited number of people we give to and gifts have to be homemade. They are frequently not as impressively made as something that is put together in China and sold in a mall, but they are emotionally more intense. Sometimes we collaborate and relax the rules of what “buy” means — so I had a song written for my wife by a musician friend. I used a bit of money for that, but we decided it wasn’t conventional “stuff” and within our rules.
I start serious thinking and work on my projects in August.
I also “tithe” my time to the projects I have with friends. If there aren’t enough projects, I read. My goal is to be poorly read for this 10 or so hours a week.
Giving is a lot more fun than collecting stuff. The big thing on Christmas is waiting for calls from people I have sent homemade gifts to …
Focusing on others tends to deepen those relationships. I may not have a personal jet or 4000 square foot home in the “right” part of town, but I do have great friends and we have our projects as glue.
The kids who hang out in malls are probably there for social reasons. Buying stuff is just a glue. People get addicted to act of buying – a real question is how can they find good in other activities when so much advertising is focused on buying.
Maybe we can channel our gathering instinct, into gathering giving experiences?
La Marguerite I like your words “maybe we can channel our gathering instinct, into gathering giving experiences?”
I just joined ‘Free Cycle’ and have been spending spare time giving away anything I have not just in the last two years (alot of stuff).
I have been looking into the psychology of ‘why we buy/shop’ in my blog (www.greenerme.wordpress.com) and have been shocked by what I have personally found for myself.
Now I am giving stuff away I am noticing a struggle to let stuff go. The psychology of why I hold onto stuff is also a shocking realisation.
Thank you for your comment on my blog and it is nice to find people who are on the same wave length.
Are you able to offer email subscriptions? As I am more of an email type person than a reader person.
I would enjoy reading your thoughts on the issue of ‘Green Psychology’.
Sarhn
P:S I have just subscribed to your twitter comments.