A few weeks ago I found myself unable to write. The UK was in the midst of a heatwave, reaching highs of 38°C. As a Serious Literary Author I require a specific temperature range in order to write. Anywhere between 21.4°C and 21.5°C is fine – any hotter or colder and I lose the ability to rhyme. Above 30°C is intolerable. 38 is well and truly unendurable. At one point I found myself sitting at my desk, sweating profusely whilst failing to find a single word to rhyme with ‘hot’. It was at this point that I knew I had to buy a fan.
As the above story brilliantly demonstrates, it takes a lot for me to make a purchase. It is, as Gen Zee might say, a ‘big deal’. Being a staunch anti-capitalist, I am naturally compelled against materialism. I will only ever purchase truly essential items.
Aside from food, coffee and candles, the only things I have bought this month are a pair of corduroy shorts, a new leather watch strap (for evening use), Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm, Aesop Cedar & Citrus lip balm, two leather satchels, two fountain pens (one for each satchel), two iPad chargers (one for each satchel), a silver hip flask, an antique map of Paris, a leather notebook and a paper notebook (because the leather one is too nice to use). It is this kind of restraint that allows me to live truly in the moment, unburdened by the insidious pull of consumerism.
Alas, consumerism is one of the defining features, if not the defining feature, of the twenty-first century. And it is only getting worse. In the digital age, the common man is expected to pay not just for physical items, but intangible ones too. Subscriptions are everywhere. Film, television and music platforms ask us to pay monthly for their incorporeal wares. Some authors have even started asking readers to pay for their writing.
I am similarly discerning when it comes to subscriptions. Whereas many people frivolously subscribe to multiple platforms for a single category such as television, I limit my subscriptions to just one per category: film, television, music, newspaper, literary journal, meditation app, coffee beans, wine, cheese, fountain pen ink, and my own Substack newsletter.
A Serious Literary Author must never bow to the market economy. We must uphold values of sufficiency and frugality. Below are some examples of my own daily acts of resistance:
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