Aristotle and Alternative Indulgence

While studying philosophy at Bucknell, I took in, mulled over, and regurgitated the ideas of countless philosophers from numerous time periods, adapting my own opinions of them, only to sneak them into the conclusion of my papers, putting a subtle spin on their theories, but never too much as to fluster my professors. (But always in a way that they could berrate me for my run-on sentences, as displayed by the previous four lines). Of all of the philosophers and theories that I studied, Aristotelian ethics is the one that widdled it's own niche into my mind and set up house as the nagging intuition that in certain situations I should be either more or less bold. Aristotelian ethics, in essence, states that to live a proper ethical life, one must not submit to too many excesses, but also should not refrain from too many indulgences, much like the Buddhist mantra of "madhyamā-pratipad" or the "Middle Way". It is as simple of an idea as it is essential. The reason for its explanation is also the reason I've decided to start this blog. I'm finding, after having graduated and needing to trapse into the working world, that my life to this point has been chock full of excesses due to the environment I grew up in, and I maybe need to re-evaluate my idea of what is necessary and what is a luxury.

My main point of an Aristotelian reformation is in shopping. Anyone who knows me is well aware of the fact that I shop constantly. The root of this problem is what I hope to get to in the next few months, but for now, it's somewhere behind the excuse of having found an "essential peice that completes my wardrobe". What's wrong with that is that it changes every 3 months (thank you seasons, for that one), and I haven't quite gotten the hang of reinventing what I already have. If Aristotle were my father, he would probably have cut me off ages ago, unfortunately, and this is going to sound terribly pompous and most likely turn several people off to me all-together, I have my own money thanks to a very financially responsible Grandfather, and I can't seem to cut my own self off. So while I am Vivendo la Bella Vita, I need to learn how to do it a bit more responsibly, because I refuse to beleive that it can't be done while being as responsible as Grandfather was. If I don't learn how to do it, I may be Vivendo la Bella Vita for a much shorter time period than I would like. My hope is that writing this will distract me from shopbop (it's like a colorful, ever-changing, beautiful drug; it's like acid) and give me some fulfillment beyond what requires a credit card, indulging in writing rather than buying. And so, I'm off.