Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Elegant Frugality: An Essay by Adela Torchia

Our society often swings between the cartoonish extremes of dualism: if it's not white, then it must be black. A quick survey of contemporary political discussion should be enough to convince anyone that the middle ground is almost unrepresented. Rarely is the 'best' solution found at an extreme. Although extremes can be helpful in debate and discussion, we generally find that life is best when we live somewhere in between.

Following is a delightful essay by the Rev. Dr. Adela Torchia that was shared with our Creation Matters1 group on a moderate approach to consumerism that may be a more sustainable option for those of us who are not quite ready to join John the Baptist in the desert.

Elegant Frugality

by the Rev. Dr. Adela Torchia

The thrill of the chase – someone tells you about a great‐sounding book and you immediately look online in your public library system, and put it on hold (stranglehold) to be delivered to your nearest branch with an email telling you when it’s arrived. Turning the pages, you decide if it’s a keeper, and if so you shop online for a used copy. Aha! – there it is for one cent, plus $6.49 for shipping! Another successful hunt concludes, with the prize on its way to your mailbox.

Or there’s that $5 item of delightful thrift‐shop clothing or housewares when a little ‘retail therapy’ helps distract from the proverbial ‘things I cannot change’. With your ‘new’ sweater or coffee mugs, life seems a little brighter and your wallet’s hardly depleted in the process. Refreshed you read news online or free Guardian articles on Facebook and increase your awareness or deepen your understanding of various matters; and if certain world situations need financial support, you’re better able to help, thanks to the money you saved on the book and sweater and coffee mugs. Or your creativity can flourish since you can work less for pay, thanks to the liberating ethos of Elegant Frugality.

Yes it’s similar to ecology’s more‐with‐less philosophy – an extrapolation of the ‘more’. Most world religions have historically cautioned that materialism was a danger to the life of the Spirit, often leading to great contests of brutal asceticism to prove one’s ‘mettle’ in extremes of self‐denial. Too many centuries of hair‐shirt bravado cast a pall on frugality as life‐denying rather than life‐affirming, or as something one practiced from necessity and not by choice. Thrift Shop Chic is not for everyone, although I was delighted to see the popularity of ‘charity shops’ in England in 2013, and how bragging about how little one had paid was an honourable practice.

The Creation Matters diocesan environmental group sees Elegant Frugality as an ethos whose time has come – an invitation to rejoice in God’s abundance meant for all, and to find new ways to be compassionate and creative as a result. And oh, the fun we can have in the process!


1The team in the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia charged with advocating for things environmental.