Refraining from purchasing on February 28 should not have been that hard. And I’m not sure that the Economic Blackout had as big an effect as its creators, People’s Union USA, had hoped.

But the effect on me was huge.  I suddenly realized that purchasing “stuff” was ingrained in my everyday life.

Whether searching the Internet for the perfect gift or running into the store for a box of crackers, I’m hooked.  And I like to think of myself as a “minimizer.”  In fact, it’s part of my professional life.  I run Unpacking Your Stories workshops where I encourage people to “rightsize,” go through their stuff and find the stories in it rather than hanging on to the stuff.

Still…my friend’s comment that she was running to the store on February 27 to “stock up” put me in inventory mode.  Did I have eggs?  Milk? Bread?  Was my tank full of gas?

I live in the city and am in touch with stores every day. I pick up a few things at Target or Kroger on the way back to the gym. I buy a few things at a time, so I’m not wasting. I often meet a friend for lunch or dinner.

None of this is wrong. But it sure does loop me into a dependency cycle, where corporate America is my new best friend and retail therapy is only a step away.

I’m not sure what news reports will say about the Blackout and maybe I should not trust them since, as my daughter points out, they are also part of corporate America.  But I can say this.  The one-day Blackout was meaningful for me. And I’m totally in on the 40-day boycott of Target starting March 5 since it’s backed away from DEI initiatives. I don’t know if Target will notice. But I sure will.