The Itch

A couple of weeks ago, for the first time in my entire life, I got the chance to take a trip out of the country (barely) and into Canada. We flew to Chicago, then to Buffalo, and then we drove over the border and into Niagara Falls, Canada. The trip took 4 days, and most of our time was spent on the Canadian side. I got to see all kinds of Maple Leaf souvenirs, Canadian flags, Canadian money, and all kinds of other Canadian things. I got to hear people say things like, “So you’ve seen the falls, eh?” and “We’re aboot to go to the wineries.” We bought gas by the liter instead of the gallon, and the speed of our car was measured in kilometers per hour rather than miles per hour.

I think that being outside of America did something to me. Subconsciously I think that something didn’t feel right about being outside of the country that I’m used to. I didn’t realize it at the time, but something must have been different about it. So in response to being absent from America for a while, the day after I came back to the United States I went out and did the most American thing I could possibly do. I bought a 32” flat-screen HDTV. Did I need it? Not really. Sure, my old TV was an old 17” television with a decent picture. But did I really need to spend all of that money on such a nice TV? The answer is definitely no.

However, I don’t really regret making the decision that I did. It’s a nice TV, and I definitely enjoy watching shows and movies on it. But it has got me thinking about how a lot of the time we Americans get some kind of itch or longing or discontentedness – I don’t even know what it is but I’m guessing that everyone knows what I’m talking about – and the way we try to cure the itch is to spend money on something. The day after my trip, I woke up and before long the possibility of getting a new TV was on my mind. It lingered there in my head and I couldn’t keep from thinking about it. In the shower I tried to reason with myself to see if I could afford it. Throughout the day I went back and forth, thinking it was a good idea one minute and a bad one the next. Ironically, that same day I watched a show on the Science channel that talked about decision making, and how usually people don’t make rational decisions. People may think they do, but most of the time they don’t really weigh all of the pros and cons of the decision; and a lot of times they just do what they want to do regardless.

Well, that day I don’t know what it was, but I was set on buying a TV. I could afford it, but truthfully the money could have been better spent elsewhere. That night I went to bed watching a show on my new high-def screen, and even though I knew I would be penny-pinching for the next few weeks, I didn’t care.

Like I said, I don’t regret the decision, but the issue of spending money just to try to cure that itch has been on my mind a little bit. I see this all the time in my life. If I’m bored, or kinda down and in need of a pick-me-up, sometimes my cure for that is to go spend money on something. I’ll buy a videogame, a CD or DVD. To tide me over until the itch comes back, I’ll go out and get something that most of the time I don’t need. Then, when it does come back, I just go out and buy something else.

This bothers me because I could be spending my time so much better. If I’m bored, I could pick up my guitar and learn some new songs, or dive into another book. I could read my Bible or pray, or call up a friend and hang out. I don’t have to spend money to do those things, and when it comes down to it doing things like that are going to make a greater difference in the long run. If I take the time now to play the guitar instead of a game, then a few years later I’ll be a really good guitar player. New TVs and other material things aren’t as valuable as the joy of being able to play a song or draw a picture or something creative like that.

When we were staying in Niagara Falls, my sister and I went into a gift shop that was full of all kinds of carved, wooden ornaments. The shop had various items such as carved masks, statues both big and small, and even some musical instruments made out of wood. We saw a few weapons, some staves, bows, and a couple of blow guns. It was a really neat place to just look around. The woman at the desk told us that most of the carvings were imported from India and Asia, in areas like that. And from the Buddha statues and faces I could tell that the art definitely had that kind of influence.

I bought a piece from that store. It’s a section of the trunk of a small tree with a face carved into it. It is carved in such a way that above and below the face you can see the bark from the tree. So you can see where the artist carved into the tree and started to make his or her design. It’s really a beautiful thing to look at. Our dog Dixie was afraid of it when I first brought it home; she wouldn’t stop barking at it. Regardless of what she thinks, I think it’s nice.

When I bought this carving I didn’t really buy it because it was of any use to me. Since I have been back it has just sat in my room, all wooden and creepy looking next to my guitar amp. I didn’t buy it because it would be fun to play with – it’s not. In fact, the thing is basically useless to me. But when I was in that store and I saw all the carvings and the work of various artists from the other side of the world, I found it beautiful. And I bought the carving because it was beautiful and because I wanted to support someone who could make something like that.

I imagine some poor man in India who lives in a small hut with dirt floors. And maybe he lives with his family trying to make enough money to eat and pay for the basic human needs. This guy doesn’t have an X-box to keep him entertained. He doesn’t have a high-definition TV screen or a blu-ray disc player or an iPod. He has none of the everyday distractions in his life that we Americans do. And so what does he have? Well, he has his family, and nature, and his art. Sure, he probably gets bored sometimes, but when that happens he can spend his time carving. He goes out in the woods and cuts down a tree, and then he chops it into pieces and starts to carve. And as he perfects his artwork and refines his skill, he carves a human face out of a piece of wood. Maybe sometimes he carves people and other times he carves animals. The sky is the limit, and really all he has to use is his imagination and his hands, picturing something incredible in his head and then using his hands and his knife to make it real.

I’m going to enjoy sitting on my couch and watching college football on my HD screen this fall. I don’t doubt that. But deep down I do feel like I may be missing out on something. Even though I have so much more than my imaginary poor Indian man has ever had, it might just be true that he is really the one who is rich and I’m the one who is poor. Maybe he is the one who is blessed and I am the one who is cursed. My TV is going to break or become outdated. The picture is going to fade and maybe get a little fuzzy. I’ve got a feeling that over the long haul, his cure for the itch is better than mine.

And so as I live out my life and decide how to spend my time and money, I really hope that when I get that itch I will learn to be a little wiser in how I react. I could just buy the latest toy, or maybe instead I could pick up a guitar or a pen and try to play music better or write better or be a better person. Maybe I could work on my golf swing. I have a feeling that when all is said and done, spending my time doing constructive things like that are far more worth it than using what little money I have to satisfy a longing that is simply not going to go away.