Kelly: Oh well, better late than never, here’s my six:

My items are a gray(ish?) high waisted skirt, a tan flowy high waisted skirt, a white linen top, a bronze sequined tank top, a blue silk top, and a long tan sleeveless sweater.  Already its awful, so why am I doing this? I haven’t even blogged or taken a photo, as far as anyone knows I haven’t been… but Isa suggested I join and Owyn said “oh come on” and after very little thought I agreed.   I don’t have too much pride to admit I was wrong, but I’m definitely too stubborn to quit already.

Last week my friend watched me mindlessly chain-smoke a pack of candy cigarettes (the good kind made of bubblegum that puff powdered sugar) and it sparked a conversation about impulsiveness and addiction… she later sent me this article called “Just Buy It” about impulsivity being tied to brain chemicals which lets me off the hook entirely for my rash decision making.  (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128854688)

The article claims that the brains of impulsive people have too much dopamine, causing some individuals to behave rashly, perhaps by buying things they don’t need… auto-receptors in the brain usually keep dopamine at the right level, but the  researchers “suspected that the dopamine thermostats of highly impulsive people are broken.”

I’ll admit I am impulsive, and an emotional decision maker, and definitely an impulsive shopper, but clearly I have no choice.  Over the past year I’ve pulled in the reigns on my clothing addiction.  During that time my impulsive tendencies were manifested in at least 15 different hair colors, definitely 7 different hairstyles, and more trips to Ikea than any person should ever make.   But the worst is in the morning when I’m deciding what to wear… even if I take the time to put my clothes out the night before to save time I may decide on a whim that the outfit looks different than 10 hours ago when I picked it out.  I don’t know, maybe my broken thermostat is what accounts for all of it, but it’s probably the reason I’m taking part in the challenge too.   Would I jump off a bridge if all my friends were doing it? Maybe…it depends if Owyn said “Oh come on” once or twice.

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