The Visa Diaries

Well, hello again! how lovely to be back here. And thanks so much to Carter for giving another breath to the Visa Diaries. The Diaries have been on my mind, though not in my schedule, since moving back to Brooklyn and working to get settled in here. Yup – my last post was over a year ago.

And how things – especially consumption related things – have changed within that time. While there was definitely a chill in the air about the economy back then, now of course we are suffering from full-on pneumonia. I can’t help wondering if our consumption habits are making long-term changes, and what better place to publicly wonder about that than the old Visa D?

I  am so curious if this recession will have long term behavioral effects or not. While I am of course neither an economist or a future-teller, some people are beginning to talk as if there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Unemployment is still rising, but not as fast. Orders for raw-goods order are still shrinking, but not as much. Credit markets are beginning to work again. I guess the point is, at some point sooner or later, the pendulum will swing the other way.

And I wonder, will we have learned anything?

Will we have learned anything about consuming less and feeling more? About spending time with friends and loved ones instead of spending money? About not judging ourselves or others by the prestige of our job or the size of our paycheck, but by the courage and gusto with which we greet whatever comes our way? I guess what I am saying is, is there any chance that we will rediscover and remember the pleasure of simple, sustainable and sustaining values.

These bits of conventional wisdom go around all the time: money can’t buy happiness; slow down and smell the roses; be here now and appreciate what you have. When the siren of fast times and big bonuses is whaling loudly, it can be hard to test those adages out. But perhaps we are being given a gift a time to really check them out.

I don’t know. But I did buy something recently that made me hope the answer is yes: a head of cabbage. I brought it over, along with some zuccini and soy sause, to my friend Nicola’s house. She added some rice and sesame oil, and we cooked in into an amazing meal of fried rice. And we talked and laughed and had a grand old soul-satisfying time. Both leafy greens and good friends are that rare combination of making you feel good and being good for you. Total pricetag $18 (ok, there were some beers in there too).