I Own Five Mechanical Keyboards (And Why I Need This Workshop More Than You Do)
Hi. My name is Wingston, and I am an addict.
My drug of choice is the “Complete Purchase” button on B&H Photo Video.
It starts innocently. “I need a better webcam for calls.” Three hours later I’m reading whitepapers on camera sensor dynamic range and I have $4,000 worth of gear in my cart.
It’s not about the gear. It never is. It’s about the feeling that if I just buy this one thing, my life will finally be organized/creative/happy.
It’s a lie. The dopamine hit lasts 12 minutes after the box arrives. Then the emptiness returns, and I start looking for a new lens.
I built this workshop because I was tired of drowning in stuff. I was tired of the guilt. And I was tired of standard “sustainability” advice that just tells you to recycle more.
Recycling is great. But recycling is damage control. We need to stop the damage at the source: Our own minds.
The Theory: Why Willpower Fails
If you try to stop spending by just “trying harder,” you will fail. It’s like trying to diet by staring at a donut and screaming “NO.”
You have to understand the Shadow Drivers.
Using Integral Theory (AQAL), we look at consumption from four perspectives. But the most important one is the Interior-Individual. The Psychology.
Why do you buy?
- Security? “If I have 50 cans of beans, I am safe.”
- Status? “If I have the Pro Max Ultra, I am successful.”
- Boredom? “I feel nothing, let’s spend money.”
The “Void Pause” (The One Trick That Actually Works)
We teach a technique called the Void Pause.
It’s stupidly simple. When you want to buy something, you stop. You take three breaths. You feel the physical sensation of “wanting” in your body. It usually feels like a tightness in the chest or a buzz in the hands.
You stay with that sensation for 60 seconds without acting.
90% of the time, the urge evaporates. It wasn’t a need. It was a nervous system regulation attempt.
The Spiral Dynamics Angle
We also nerd out on Spiral Dynamics.
- Orange Meme: “I consume to achieve and show status.” (Silicon Valley default)
- Green Meme: “I consume sustainable, organic, fair-trade products to show I care.” (Brooklyn default)
- Yellow Meme: “I consume only what serves the systemic health of the whole.” (The Goal)
Most “conscious consumers” are stuck in Green. They just buy different stuff. They buy $400 organic cotton yoga pants. That’s still consumption.
We are aiming for Yellow. Functional, systemic, non-attached.
The 8-Day Detox
This is an 8-day workshop. It’s intense. We do Shadow Work. We look at the parts of ourselves we hate (the greedy part, the envious part) and we give them a hug. Because if you starve them, they just eat your credit card later.
Who Should Come?
- People with a closet full of clothes “with the tags still on.”
- Techies with a “graveyard of abandoned hobbies” (looking at you, 3D printer owners).
- Anyone who feels a vague sense of nausea when they look at their Amazon order history.
The Pitch
Sliding Scale Pricing. This isn’t about profit. It’s about building a lifeboat.
Come join us. We might not save the world, but we’ll definitely save you some money on useless gadgets.
(Disclaimer: I still own the keyboards. Progress, not perfection.)