Excess
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I ate an entire carton of powdered donut holes from Trader Joe’s. Once again today I ate an entire package of powdered mini donuts from 7 Eleven. Other than the decrease in quality, there is one thing made painfully apparent to me in this reality:
I’m addicted to excess.
Forget what the old adage taught: it is possible to have too much of a good thing. The law of diminishing returns makes this illustration in a philosophical sense, but I’m going to call it the proof of excess. It’s not a matter of the 99% vs. the 1%, global disparities, income inequality or anything like that. It’s a matter of living life in fear.
I’m pretty good at challenging that fear of scarcity when it comes to money, and pretty good when it comes to possessions. I like to consider myself a “moderated bon vivant,” recognizing that there is much to enjoy of finer things in life but also that such indulgences are just that — indulgences that I can choose to either participate in or go without.
I haven’t always been this way. When unloading my Christmas decorations this year I discovered I have no fewer than a dozen strings of Christmas lights. I know I purchased some of them on deep markdown, “for someday.” I’ve moved them from place to place, never opening some individual boxes, merely holding onto them for that “someday.”
During college there was a period of time I couldn’t muster the discipline to regularly wash my clothes. I never wore dirty clothing, instead when I ran out of clean underwear I would simply drop my entire paycheck on a shopping day at the outlet mall buying more underwear and clothing.
These donuts are simply illustrating that I have come a long way in self-awareness of life’s excess, yet I have a long way to go. Getting a single donut at the local donut shop rather than buying a bag of lower-quality donuts from the convenience store when I’m merely satisfying a sweet tooth craving would make much more sense. (And be more socially responsible at that!)
In food, in possessions, in money — avoiding excess is counter-cultural. It is a posture that rejects the prevailing consumeristic narrative and finds satisfaction in simple contentment. Now if only I can do that with donuts!
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Daniel Ross-Jones serves as Minister for Youth & Young Adults at First Congregational Church of Palo Alto, United Church of Christ. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area for a time still measured in months, he is frequently getting lost and discovering treasures of a landscape very different from his Upper Midwestern roots. Green Jello Hotdish is a blog exploring the intersections of his days. 
