“Most people go shopping to feel better. The wise go to find out what they can live without.”
— The Sage
The Sage has long observed the curious human habit of treating shops like pharmacies for the soul. Feeling tired? Buy something. Feeling stressed? Buy two. Feeling lost? Buy whatever’s on the end-of-aisle display. Shopping becomes a kind of emotional anaesthetic — a quick dose of novelty to soothe what’s unsettled inside. But, as he likes to remind us, the receipt rarely includes long-term peace of mind.
To the wise, however, shops serve a very different purpose. They’re not treasure troves but test sites. The Sage wanders through them not to fill a basket but to examine desire itself — to see what calls to him, what fades quickly, and what no longer holds any weight at all. In doing so, he discovers that contentment grows not from accumulation but from understanding what no longer needs to be carried.
His humour softens the lesson, but the message is clear: shopping can be a mirror. It shows us our cravings, our impulses, and the little stories we tell ourselves about happiness. The Sage invites us to look into that mirror with curiosity rather than urgency. Sometimes the wisest purchase is the one we walk away from — and the simplest freedom is realising we needed far less than we thought.
Thank you for reading my writings. If you’d like to, you can buy me a coffee for just £1 and I will think of you while writing my next post! Just hit the link below…. (thanks in advance)
The Sage Page 