I read this essay yesterday (thanks, HN! my addiction pays off!) and got to thinking. I used to live in a prosperous, expensive, beautiful, poorly kept up 1900

I read this essay yesterday (thanks, HN! my addiction pays off!) and got to thinking. I used to live in a prosperous, expensive, beautiful, poorly kept up 1900s suburb of Washington DC called Takoma Park. I had downsized to a 500 sq ft apartment that I fell in love with -- it had such great design, craftmanship, and big trees outside every window, so idyllic (sigh). My wooden deck, out in the trees, was far bigger than my bedroom, and that was a plus too. It felt wonderfully like home. I had to go shopping all the time for various things and spent a ridiculous amount of time in the car because everything was about 20-30 minutes away, the roads were bad, and the traffic was incredible. I lived there just over a year. Then I moved to Vienna, Austria. Now I live in an apartment in an Altbau (old building), built in the late 1800s and renovated last in the 1970s. And the 1970s here were a lot less prosperous than in the US. It's got an ancient pull-chain toilet. It's got a totally 70s custom wood built-in kitchen with large tile countertops and a broken built-in fridge, replaced with a standalone on the end of the countertop. It's got door handles that pull off, sagging floors (they're like 110 years old) that need refinishing, a couple ancient windows that barely open/close, and lots of 30- to 120-year-old furniture, courtesy my new husband. This should drive me nuts. I read this essay and I thought: I haven't really bought any thing in nearly 2 months, with the exception of books (Kindle) and small xmas presents. I've bought lots of food, and I've bought some experiences (museums, etc.), but not... stuff. It wasn't on purpose. It doesn't really feel strange. I walk by lots of stores every day. We even go grocery shopping every day or two, because the stores are every few blocks and the daily bread is real, without preservatives. My feeling of "needing" to go shopping just sort of slipped away, even though some things about the apartment irritate me & could be fixed with a trip to IKEA. Getting to IKEA is a fair amount of work since we don't have a car, but that's not really why I haven't done it. I just don't care. And I used to be a person who, once she entered a store, would take 3 times the amount she intended because shiny things caught her eye. It's very strange, but also nice. I didn't set out to be like this, it just happened. I welcome it, but I don't entirely understand it.