It felt hard to say a final farewell to overconsumption on this rainy spring evening in March. And several of us who were gathered in Vaxjo konsthall to participate in the public farewell ceremony probably got a big lump in the stomach, when listening to the words:

“We have come to a conclusion.
We need to stop our overconsumption.
And tonight we will have the opportunity to say a final goodbye to our overconsumption.
The promise that we make, we give to ourselves, to our neighbor, to the generation that comes and the generation after that – a promise to a future, where mercy and love will dwell.”

But before that, the speech of the officiant had also been comforting; reminding us how we eat too much meat, drive too much and buy too many new mobiles; about us renovating our kitchens every other year, buying clothes that we use once or never, throw or hang into the closet, repair nothing but throw away and buy new at cheap price that then breaks and is thrown and we buy new, that breaks and we throw and buy new… always cheap…

Although we may need to grieve over overconsumption, it has, on reflection, been more labor-intensive than satisfactory and, frankly, very difficult to depend on – ‘because you’re worth it’, as the saying goes. Worth what? To be stuck in such a behavior? That is really not something to yearn for, indeed it’s actually unworthy of a human being.

So, when the Farewell Ceremony was over, and we went on to the memorial service, we all felt a little relieved.

“Overconsumption. Rest in peace.”

Photo: Josephine Dahlberg-Jigander /Växjö konsthall