A visit to the mall is a great idea if you’d like to be reminded in the dreamiest way possible of how perfect your life could be , if only you could buy that exquisite jacket from Levi’s. If only I could drink that overpriced Starbucks coffee every time I wanted one, I would ‘ve been happier. Or so I seemed to think.

I had bought into the idea that owning finer things added value to my life, and that the pricier the object of my fancy – the more value it would add to me as a person. As I child, I dreamt of becoming rich so that I could buy the pink dollhouse I’d wanted so badly for my Barbie doll. But over the past few years, I’ ve been realising that this mental model of assigning things/experiences a value based on their MRP is somehow rather flawed.

Reading ‘The Art of Frugal Hedonism’ by Annie & Adam Grubb, my eyes stopped on –

It is easy to use spending money as mental confirmation that something of value is being obtained. We can equally choose to relish and recognize value in experience, atmosphere, sensuality or company.

I recounted how we’d spent Achu’s third birthday, just the three of us huddled around a picnic basket, beneath a towering Jacaranda(heavy with pink blossoms) in Cubbon Park. Our laughs  echoed in the cool air as ceaseless birdsong blanketed us in a cozy hug.
We played some music as Achu munched on his favourite m & ms.
This particular day, seemingly ordinary was more decadent an experience to me than any of the ‘supposed’ five-star vacations we’d treated ourselves to. And all we had spent money on was the helicopteresque helium balloon for Achu which got stuck high up a tree quite fast (though I only let go for a second).

Slowly but surely, I’ ve learned to cherish those things in life which truly add value- be it an auto-rickshaw ride with Varsha in the sweltering Hyderabad heat (as we talked non-stop) or a midnight escapade with friends to drink lemon tea at this special tea-shop in Kottayam.

Any experience or object can only have the value I choose to give it. There is no fixed reality, only different perceptions of it. I can invent my own reality of what something means to me. Its on me to pick up the real diamonds strewn along my path. 

And I am trying to do just that.