Issue #135: How to Break the Obsessive Buying Cycle and a 5-Item Rule
Put down the mesh ballet flats.
Morning Person is a weekly newsletter packed with obsessively-curated recommendations and ideas—let’s get to it!
📺 “Apples Never Fall” on Peacock: It’s no surprise that the seven-episode adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s novel (recommended here) is a little bit formulaic—but it’s also an enjoyable watch, with a winning combination of suspense, wealthy family drama, and Annette Bening. When Bening’s character, Joy, the prim matriarch of a wealthy tennis-playing family in West Palm Beach, Florida goes missing, resentments and accusations fly between her husband and their adult children. Other options to consider: “Alice and Jack,” which was not-great based on the first episode but had a promising premise, and “The Girls on the Bus,” about four journalists covering a campaign trail, based on the Amy Chozick novel Chasing Hillary.
🎥 ‘Frida’ Documentary on Prime: It turns out, I knew very little about Frida Kahlo before watching Carla Guttierez’s just-released vivid documentary about the Mexican painter. It shares Kahlo’s rich inner world and thoughts—on love, including her famous partnership with Diego Rivera, life, the events that shaped her and her art—through words pulled from her journals and interviews, over animations of her artwork (initially misspelled as “heartwork,” which feels like an apt Freudian slip). My associations with Kahlo have all been through depictions of her, by way of Salma Hayek and museum postcards, but I finished the documentary with a renewed interest to read more of her own words, to deepen my appreciation of her art.
💿 ‘Deeper Well’ by Kacey Musgraves: Do I even need to tell you I’ve been listening to this on repeat? Saturn’s Return. Charging in the moonlight. A killer love song. Check, check, check. I’m loving this latest introspective album from Kacey Musgraves and her evolution from ‘Same Trailer Different Park.’ I’ve already listened to it enough times this weekend to be (almost) sick of it.
On a very different note, I may have to see ‘Snack Shack,’ which looks like a fun summer stoner movie, and will get around to ‘Dune 2’ as soon as the sunny weather goes away this weekend. Have you seen it?? And did, anyone watch ‘Irish Wish’? I need to know.
P.S. Don’t forget to join our bookclub chat on Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering here!
You know that scene at the beginning of ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’? Our leading lady is on her way to a job interview when she catches sight of a sheer green scarf. “Rebecca,” she says to herself, “You just got a credit card bill of $900. You do not need a scarf.” As soon as she turns to walk away, the mannequin animates to play devil’s advocate. “Then again, who needs a scarf?” it says gently, “The point about this scarf is that it would become part of a definition of your psyche—the Girl in the Green Scarf.” She buys it.
A few weeks ago, a pair of mesh Mary Jane shoes became my green scarf. I imagined crossing my ankles at a book talk this summer, my flats completing an outfit that screamed, “Bestselling Author.” Before that, it was a tank top with small red flowers and a keyhole closure. Its Italian-sounding name called to mind an easy sprezzatura, on my way to meet a friend for duo espresso. Despite it being 100% viscose and nearly $100, even on sale, I almost bought it. Ditto for the jumpsuit my impossibly chic yoga instructor wore, a blouse I saw on Instagram, bike shorts, and a dress for a summer wedding. Each thing felt like The Thing.
It wasn’t until I began to reflect on this unending cycle through the lens of my in-process master’s in addiction counseling, that I began to understand the full extent of why I do this—and how to finally break the cycle.
Tips for breaking the cycle of shopping (and my own experience with it)
Why I’m creating a Five-Item Rule this year
Every single item in my closet
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