A blue/green Friday

Noticing nature not shopping discounts

Hello, I’m Rachel. I write about nature and creativity to encourage connection and wellbeing. This is one of my regular posts about noticing nature and finding connection. To read more - go to my homepage and click the noticing nature tab.

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Black Friday, Black Week, Cyber Monday … my inbox, the TV, social media. They’ve all been shouting at me for days, just in case I might not have known about the amazing, never to be repeated, can’t miss, must buy discounted washing machine, socks, cuddly toy, editing software, or even milk. Buy, buy, and buy more. If it hasn’t taken over your country yet - can I move there please?

And… breathe…

You don’t have to do Black Friday. You don’t have to buy things today if you don’t need or want to.
It seems to have become part of the calendar, a tradition. But it isn’t. It’s a marketing ploy and as with a lot of marketing, it’s exceedingly loud, shouty, and the bombardment of advertising feels stressful.

So what about doing something different today?

If you do want to/need to buy something how about Colour Friday or Small Business Saturday (the day after), Both encourage people to choose small/local/independent retailers/makers rather than the big guys.

Or you could take it a step further and do Buy Nothing Friday. Take the opportunity to fully disconnect from shopping and do something nice. May I suggest getting outside and finding some blue or green therapy? Let me know if you do.

Here’s a voice note from the beach to bring some calm.

I record these on my phone and don’t currently have the tech/capacity to edit them and add captions but I hope they are still helpful.

Some of my rockpool finds - anemones and dog whelks

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