Where's the line between rampant consumerism, art and helping others?

Tuning In for the Slow Living Mompreneur

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Where's the line between rampant consumerism, art and helping others?

Megan Moran

Apr 08, 2025

Transcript

In January I worked a tradeshow for my Mom’s business at the Vegas Wholesale Mart.

As I walked back from the bathroom, staring in showroom after showroom like a dog watching trees pass in a car, I noticed how each space was swimming with thousands of products. And I asked myself:

Where is the line between rampant consumerism, art and helping?

My creative side said:

There are so many artists here that poured their heart into this beautiful manifestation of their work.

And then my minimalist side said:

There’s an insane amount of items here that we don’t really need.

While my Enneagram 2w3 side shared:

But most of these items were created to help people.

Combine this thought with:

… and you’ll join me in this current game of “what in the world are we doing here?”

Since then, this question’s popped into my head every time I make a decision- like…

When the kids ask for yet another lego set that is educational (helpful) and supportive of their interests (art) and great for our unschooling lives…. but may also end up in the toy graveyard (rampant consumerism.)
- …. and so I battle with myself: Ultimately where does it fall? Rampant consumerism? Art? Or helpful?
As I’m scrolling on Pinterest for vibey inspirational home decor ideas (helpful + art)…. and am subconsciously telling myself I need this thing and to do that renovation on the house (rampant consumerism.)
- I now notice myself pausing and thinking- wait, where am I coming from here: Rampant consumerism? Art? Helpful?

I’ve been asking this question about my creative work now too…

Seeing people resonate with my How to Start a Substack + Podcasting on Substack videos on Youtube and therefore grab the mini-courses so they can create their way here too.
- ✅ Feels important
- ✅ Feels helpful
- ✅ Feels so good to create
  - So I then think about making more videos like this…. but is doing MORE: Rampant consumerism? Art? Helpful?
Falling in love with writing, sharing my thoughts and creating my online magazines here:
- ✅ Feels important
- ✅ Feels helpful
- ✅ Feels so good to create
  - But does it all need to be commoditized?
    - And when I think of the gift economy versus our market economy (more on that here), I ask myself if I’m financially whole… what is the role of charging?
      - Which is why I’ve been tweaking my paid tier, constantly checking in + asking myself: Rampant consumerism? Art? Helpful?

So how do we decipher?

And where is that line between enough vs. continuing our practice/doing what we love?

It’s a big question I’ve been chewing on lately and what it’s really come down to for me is- me. How I respond to the things around me versus what they mean for everyone else.

So I’m being more intentional + conscious with my choices

Whether it’s with my spending or my creations- I’m noticing this “take a beat” mentality. And that I’m slowing down to give myself more space to think things through.
- I read the phrase “steward our money well” somewhere and it really resonated with me.
  - Which is why we’ve been realllyyyyy conscious of our finances. Because every dollar spent is one that could have been spent somewhere else.
    - So we’ve been intentionally asking ourselves: is this what we want to spend it on?
      - i.e. Local vs. big businesses. Amazon prime vs. a coffee shop outing each month. Paying other Substack writers for their words that’ve impacted me vs. buying myself something I don’t need.

I’m also curbing my consumption, mentally too.

I noticed when I started tuning in with myself, that I felt rampant in my consumption. We’re SO inundated these days that this question has made me reassess all sorts of things.
- Going on a digital diet, being more analog, consuming mostly deeper work and bringing this all to my work too.
  - It feels like the next layer of my slow, intentional living journey.