A quote from a Starbucks cup:
"Be careful, this beverage you are about to enjoy may be extremely hot."
At first, this phrase seems fairly innocuous. If anything, it's a nice warning, reminding me of the consequences that come along with my unhealthy addiction to caffeine. There, I admitted my problem, step one complete.
There is one part of this friendly little admonishment, however, that I think is worth examining, this being the assumption which Starbucks makes here. According to the marketing geniuses who spent hours and hours designing this cup, I have no option but to enjoy this beverage. Whether or not I will like this drink is a forgone conclusion. The second the liquid entered this particular container, some strange faux-hipster magic was cast, creating a concoction which would lull my taste buds into eternal bliss.
I know what I am about to suggest is ground breaking, but what if by some crazy chance I didn't enjoy the drink?
*Audible Gasp!*
Granted, this most likely would not be the case for me. I do, indeed, have an unhealthy addiction to coffee, and if you put coffee flavoring in something and tell me I can have it I will probably like you more. My own issues aside, I'm quite certain that there are people out there who do not, in fact like coffee. Based on this, the cup (not unlike certain types of cake) is a lie.
But how can this be!? Marketing is supposed to be able to tell me everything I want! If Starbucks is getting it wrong, does this mean that the rest of our consumer culture may NOT have a concrete grasp on all of my desires!?
In short, yes, but that won't stop them from trying.
I know I have been fairly snarky throughout the first part of this particular piece, but I think there is something which we need to be a bit more serious about here. We live in a society that likes to get us to feel as though we are validated by making purchases. I feel that this is basically impossible to miss during this particular month. Based on the fact that we are not completely impulsive, however, people get payed lots of money to get us to go out and continue buying things by focusing on getting us to believe that we want things.
Sometimes, we really do want what our culture is pushing. A lot of it seems fairly attractive. The deeper question here, though, is what makes those things attractive. I honestly believe that there are parts of these various products that we want, and maybe even want them for good reasons. We want to think we are attractive. We want to think we are intelligent. We want to think that we can relate to the culture around us.
The truth of the matter is, though, that you can't find these things in a product. I spent years of my life thinking that if I could just look the right way, say the right things, portray the right image, that I could be everything I was meant to be. In reality, we can't do anything to make ourselves more like the person we are meant to be. We were created with that intention already in mind, and all we are capable of, all we have to do, is realize it.
So in this season in which nine hundred thousand different things will try to tell you that they can define you, my message to both myself and anyone reading this is simple. Know who you are. If you haven't figured that out, take some time to do it. Get out of all the stress and panic that comes along with this season so much of the time, find a place of peace, and think on who you were meant to be. Who you were made to be. Let the fulfillment of that purpose be what brings you joy this season.
With His love and Hopefully His grace,
Taylor
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