From the archive

You paid for it. Now you're paying to keep it in your life

Sometimes a lifestyle is especially expensive. You didn't buy a single thing. You bought a version of yourself you now have to live up to. That jacket feels wrong with this car. You can't put that table in this apartment. You can't show up to that job with this phone. One purchase explains the need for the next, until the whole collection starts looking compulsory. You wanted more freedom and built an entire setup you're frightened to leave. It all seems to belong to you. You just have fewer decisions you can make without consulting it.