Ubiquitous Advertising

As I was reading my free Vimeo copy of the latest "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine this morning (received free as part of my membership to the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks),  I was struck anew by the ubiquitous nature of advertising in our society.  Nearly 3/4 of this magazine consists of either direct advertising of something we "need", or a feature article giving prices and links to the items styled in the article so we could rush right out there and buy these "needed", "must have" items.  Very few articles about actual gardening.

Since 2013, Fred and I have been on a downsizing, minimalism quest.  Even now, four years later, there is still much to be sorted and eliminated.  The dreaded photo boxes, and albums, and "important papers" have still not been downsized to my satisfaction.  We have, however, been fairly successful in not bringing in new "stuff" that is not really needed.  At the most, if we acquire something, something else has to go.

I have found that I now crave simplicity in my surroundings.  I don't want to be a slave to my "things".  If something requires "maintenance" (which could simply mean dusting - LOL),  I'm trying to let it go.  Letting go of cable TV and watching very little of the antennae-received channels,  unsubscribing to emails from retail establishments, and not buying magazines helps to lessen the bombardment of advertising.  It's a continual battle though.

Billboard in Okinawa, Japan