Don't Deny Yourself The Sensory Experience Of Browsing

Take Pen to Paper: Edition 144

Hello Fellow Consumers,

This week, I hope to find myself moving my creativity up to the attic space that we finished as an extra room.

My granddaughters are excited because, in addition to my arts and crafts supplies, I told them they can sleep up there.

Much of what will be placed there will come from downstairs. However, there are a few items that I will need to buy, like a stool for the bathroom. Crafting girls need to wash their hands.

In this newsletter:

1. Run to the store or shop online?

2. The art of browsing in person.

3. A need can open the door.

To Shop Or Not

There was a time when shopping always meant going to a physical store and included browsing. Depending on where you shopped, the experience included browsing by touching, seeing, hearing, smelling, and tasting. The internet changed that with a picture and written description (if there is one).

I’m not really a browser or a shopper. There are different challenges to shopping in a store and online. With either, I have difficulty finding what I am looking for. Perhaps I don’t find what I want because I rarely shop, and I have lost the ability to know where to go to find it. I have lost the ability to browse. I’ve had a gift card to a local store in my wallet for six months! I wouldn’t be spending my money.

I have created my shopping dilemma. I go to one grocery store. It’s the one I know where everything is. I also limit where I shop online. What else am I limiting myself on?

It’s good that I don’t shop and buy unnecessary items, but what about when I need something?

Recapture The Art Of Browsing

Not too long ago, I went to a new doctor and discovered that their office was next door to a Books-A-Million. My husband asked if I had gone in. I had so many reasons not to. I didn’t have time. I have too many books already. I don’t need to spend money.

Then I read a piece by Suzanne LaGrande titled, "What We Lose By Always Getting What We Want". Suzanne explains that by always getting only what we want, we may miss out on "the possibility of growth, expansion, and discovering something new," or something we need.

You don’t always have to sit, click, and have it delivered. You don’t have to run in the store to get one item because you know where it is. You can browse while you shop. You can browse without buying. Browsing presents opportunity and adventure.

A bookstore or library is a great place to experience browsing as a sensory experience.

• The sight of books organized by collection, genre, or recommendation.

• The feel of opening a book and turning pages to an unknown adventure and new knowledge.

• The hushed sound of others turning pages thinking, "Should I get this book?"

• The smell of ...well, books. Paper, ink, and book glue.

The convenience of online shopping or quickly stopping in keeps us from immersing ourselves in the sensory experience of browsing. It keeps us from letting our senses guide us.

We don’t have to browse all the time, but occasional browsing in a physical store would help us reclaim the experience of letting our senses guide us to opportunities and adventures.

One Small Need Will Assist Me

I have two things on my list for the new room that are encouraging me to walk through the doors of Walmart or Target. I am convinced that I won’t enjoy the experience, and I cringe while writing about it, but I must remember to think of it as an adventure or opportunity.

I don’t know either store well enough, so I will be forced to browse to some extent when looking for my items. I need to treat the experience as an opportunity to use my senses to guide me. If I practice enough, I may recapture the art of browsing. I may find something else I need.

Shopping and browsing have the added benefit of reminding us to be grateful for the choices we have, or that we have choices. And perhaps, when we walk out with nothing, it’s because we don’t need anything. We can be grateful for all we have and remember how good life is.

Photo by S.G.S. Abel

7 Days, 7 Thoughts on Gratitude and Good:

1. The small town of Blackstone, VA is an antiquer’s dream. I browsed through several stores, yet I only spent $2. Antiques are one of the few things I can browse for and resist. 🏪

2. I am grateful for grocery stores that maintain the same floor plan. That allows me to learn where everything is. 🗺️

3. It’s a good thing to have a reason to get out and browse - that one small thing you need, your friend wants some company, or maybe, in the hot summer, a cool change of scenery.

4. A quote: "If I could be reincarnated as a fashion accessory, it would be a shopping bag." - Karl Lagerfeld 👜

5. Do you want to browse in the largest physical store in the world? Plan your visit here.

6. Here are some statistics about shopping local. 💲

7. It’s a good thing to browse your local shops. It will give you a sense of community.

Thank you for reading. Are you a shopper or browser?

Until next time,

💚

Susan

What is your favorite place to browse? Leave a comment and let me know. I would love to hear about it. I may be interested in trying it.

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I have a 2nd newsletter about journaling. It’s a great way to learn about journaling, especially if you are new to the habit. If you are interested or know someone who would be, check it out at From The Pen’s Nib: A Commonplace Book About Journaling.