As they say, "there is a lot to unpack here." I'll be honest that I'm a bit of a Pollyanna. (For the uninitiated, that is a person who is an optimist at heart.) What this means, in practice, is that I don't see a bad thing happen and view it as a trend or a larger statement about who we are as a species. Not that you were suggesting anything of the sort! I'm just saying that there are indeed those out there who will switch out their cars every few years, but there are millions more of us who drive our vehicles until all the parts fall off. Heh heh.

I do think we throw too much away, as a society. I may be a minority in this — I really don't know — but I personally don't throw stuff out. I give things away. I take things to charities. I don't buy stuff that is heavily packaged. I buy most clothing items used. I compost anything compostable. Most of the people I know are the same way. We all walk that fine line between wanting to reuse and recycle everything, and being hoarders. Just kidding. I think, quite honestly, that living in a minimal way is where it's at. I don't like collecting stuff or storing things that I'm not sure I'll ever need. So I avoid buying excess stuff in the first place.

What comes to mind with this though, is how fast our opinions can change these days on even large topics that will make significant impacts on our life, and financial wellbeing. As a species, we seem to be far more flaky than we were earlier, where we have moved heavily away from being committed to anything at all.

I think that has been a trend indeed. But you know what? I sense a shift. A movement back toward being real, being connected in a deeper way, making smarter choices, investing in friendships and quality things instead of quantity. I think people are sick of shallowness and doom scrolling. Maybe I'm rambling. But the world needs to right itself. We need something more wholesome and happy than the angst and malaise of the last few years. I think it's coming. But you know me... a Pollyanna!