A thought I’ve been thinking about:

Perhaps we can judge things into two categories: things which get BETTER over time, and things which get WORSE over time.

Wabi-sabi aesthetics

For example in the field of ‘wabi-sabi’– the basic notion is this:

As things age and get worn/torn, they become MORE beautiful.

For example, I love wood– especially knotted, “mis-shapen”, and irregular wood. Why? It becomes more beautiful, interesting, and sublime over time!

For example the reason why I love leather products– they get better and more beautiful over time!

Or human beings– I actually think that older people are more beautiful and elegant, especially when they have wrinkles and age-marks on their faces. It shows their life story. The caves and valleys of their faces are 1000x more interesting than ‘baby faced’ younger kids.

Or consider the ‘brassing’ of a black-paint Leica camera. I love my Leica MP from an object-perspective, because the more I shoot with it and the more I use it, the more you can see the golden-brass underneath the black paint, which looks beautiful in my eyes!

Or consider RAW denim– the more holes, wear marks, and ‘imperfections’ or ‘irregularities’ your denim has– the more interesting and beautiful it becomes!

Purchasing behaviors

This is the tricky thing– very few (if any) consumerist things we buy into actually get ‘better’ with time.

With automobiles (unless you own a classic 1969 Porsche)– almost all of these automobiles get WORSE over time, and LOSE their value.

With phones and devices– almost everything with an ‘on-off’ button gets WORSE over time. Generally speaking, almost all electronics get worse over time.

With fashion and clothing– almost all clothing-items become WORSE over time. A lot of hyped up fashions will no longer be fashionable 6 months or 1 year from now. So perhaps when you’re investing in clothes for yourself– try to invest in clothing which will be maximally ‘robust’ towards the future, or try to keep your wardrobe as classic as possible, and don’t get suckered by the hype.

There is no ultimate ‘good’ or ‘bad’ purchasing behavior, but I just encourage you to think critically for yourself–

Will this thing I want to buy become BETTER or WORSE over time?

And if the thing is going to inevitably get worse over time, ask yourself:

How LONG can I use this thing, before it becomes obsolete? How ROBUST will this thing be to the effects of time? How quickly will it get outdated?

Or in short, trust the classics.