No Need [Part II]
Ok so this is a continuation of my previous post about how I feel like I want to use Obsidian, but have no need for it because I don't take notes. Well, after I wrote that post, I thought a bit more about it and found that I have that same feeling toward other things as well. I suspect that I'm not alone with this. Perhaps I'm just experiencing "consumerism" but it feels different.
There are plenty of things that I want, but have no need for. Things that have no bigger purpose. Like video games or a fancy meal. Those kind of "wants" I would put more in the consumerist side. Things that, obtaining them is the reward. However, what I'm talking about here are things like medical equipment, sewing stuff for clothes/fabric repairs, tools for home/car repairs, etc. Practical items. Things that, if you also have the know-how, can be used productively. And just writing that line, I'm thinking now that this is not just a desire for the items themselves, but for the requisite knowledge/training in their use. Then on top of that, the scenario in which to finally deploy that skill and gear.
Take sewing for example. I don't own a sewing machine. I don't even own a needle and thread. Nor would I know what to do with them if I did. But I saw a sewing machine at a street market the other week and felt that desire rise within me. I wanted it, but perhaps that was just a distillation of a more complex thought process, being expressed in a more familiar way. "Hmmm I don't quite understand what I'm feeling, but I think it's 'wanting', so I'll feel that".
Yet I have no need for a sewing machine. My local tailor (whom I have visited only once for a small alteration) seems to offer services at a fair price. I've never (yet) needed to make a repair to my clothes. Perhaps because I treat them well, but also because I don't use them in any sort of adverse conditions. The only defect has been purely "style" related, but I digress.
In a sense, I "want to need" these things. I wish that I had a legitimate use for a sewing machine so that I could be justified in getting one. Not that I want my clothes to need repairs, but you get the point. I realize I'm beginning to retread ground I covered in this post, namely the desire to gain skills. So I think I've exhausted my line of reasoning at this point. For now, I'm only left wanting/needing a conclusion to this idea...
Yours Truly,
[Redacted]