We have too much choice
Feeling homesick for simpler times
Hello, I’m Molly, a full time creative based in the Scottish Highlands. Subscribers can enjoy weekly posts around the themes of slow living, with members getting access to ALL my work, including video tea times, slow letters and seasonal book reviews to name a few!
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I can’t remember the last time I simply chose a movie.
Unlike my younger years, where I would have to select from a set number of videos or DVDs, stashed away in dark wooden cabinets or lying scattered around the lounge TV set, now the possibilities are frighteningly endless.
I’ve spent too much of my life trawling through streaming sites. Even if I start with an idea of a genre, or even a specific film in mind, I easily get waylaid by the ‘new or popular’ or ‘leaving soon’ picks that I then feel compelled to try. More often than not, I give up on the endeavour entirely.
Movies used to feel like a special treat. My brothers and I would always put films on our Christmas lists and spend rainy days watching our favourites again and again. I loved the intimacy in getting to know movies this way, quoting my favourite lines and humming soundtracks for days after.
It never felt like we were missing out. And I miss this simplicity.
I miss the exquisite anticipation of waiting a week to watch the next instalment of a favourite show.
I miss the creativity that came with putting together outfits from what I could find in our local charity shops or weekly markets.
I miss knowing every book in the teenage section of the library by heart and the exhilaration of spotting a new title on the shelves.
I miss CD’s with tatty covers containing lyrics I would carefully learn line by line.
I miss only having one take-out option and that we would always order the same thing.
I miss having a phone that was only useful in sending laborious texts, the odd carefully timed phone-call (that wouldn’t send my phone-bill through the roof) and occasional game of snake.
I miss the Jane Fonda video that we would jump along to, back when I thought everyone was required to wear spandex to exercise.
I miss the long car journeys to our annual UK holiday destinations (flights were an eye-watering expense with 4 children in tow), with regular lengthy pauses as the car invariably overheated or our mother had missed a crucial line in her printed-out directions.
I miss hearing the stories about how romantic partners had met, that couldn’t be summed up in the name of an app.
More than anything, I miss the ease that came with making decisions, without the crippling paralysis or crushing fatigue that comes with selecting approximately 74 choices before breakfast.
Today, Starbucks famously has over 80,000 varieties of drinks on offer, which would apparently take 3 human lifetimes to taste them all.
This unfathomable amount of choice is not unique to this famous coffee chain. One study investigating changes in consumption reported that the amount of niche alternative products rose by 4.5% between 2004 and 2016.
Although there are obvious upsides to the freedom that comes with this level of options, research has indicated that too many choices can cause cognitive overload, leading to feelings of stress and poor decision making.
This is especially the case for what researchers have defined as ‘maximisers’, people who, in contrast to ‘satisficers’ who are happy to settle for ‘good enough’, this proportion of the population always aim to make the best choice possible. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is the satisficers that are reported to have higher levels of happiness and are less prone to feelings of depression.
Speaking of coffee, you can now support my work, which allows me to keep these Monday posts free to read, by buying me a coffee. Which, in my case, will always be an oat latte!
I’ll admit that, in the past, I fit the ‘maximiser’ profile. I hated the idea of wasting money or, worse, my time on something that wasn’t worthy of my high standards.
This is still something that I battle with today. The feeling of decision paralysis is all too familiar, especially during peaks in my anxiety when even simple choices seem impossible.
I think every generation will have a sense of nostalgia when it comes to reflecting on the ‘good old days’, when life invariably seemed simpler. But we can’t turn back time and nor should we want to. Those rose-tinted glasses need to be removed so we can adapt and make the most of the life we are living now.
As much as I love the thrill that comes with finding that ‘perfect’ bargain dress on Vinted, or the satisfaction of a trip going exactly as planned, I’ve felt myself beginning to let go of the idea that ‘best’ is always best.
Sometimes we need to accept that good enough really is good enough.
Until next time,
Molly xx
More from my slow life
Living an untethered life (what does it really mean to be free?)
There is so much choice of words to read online. This morning I read this, and this, was good enough. Thank you Molly.
There was a rhythm and flow to life. Now, with oceans of choice we're lost at sea, drowning in an emptiness of meaning.
Too much choice? How true Molly…I totally agree with you. Do we really need umpteen choices of toothpaste or shampoo or soap? I sometimes stand paralysed at shelves of products not knowing what on earth to choose and often I just walk away and give up! However, I do love the choice we are given in bookshops and I can lose myself for ages looking at books and also having a coffee if one is available in the bookshop. I was born in 1947 not long after the war and many things were still rationed until I was about 6 years old. I can’t ever remember feeling deprived at the limited choices that were available and these days it can be frustrating to see so much choice and the concurrent waste which follows. I really enjoy your YouTube videos and Substack writings Molly. Your content is much more in line with my philosophy on life. Love to the beautiful Skye ❤️.