I live in a place with choices abundant…
Such that picking favorite objects seems redundant
Any kind of food, any cuisine that I fancy
I can have, it is readily available to me
From decadent desserts to low sugar substitutes
I can pick healthy food and satisfy my taste buds too
But then there are days when the single brand of cookies that defined
Snacking in my childhood comes to my mind
And the freedom of choice afforded to my palate appears
Quite meaningless, as I hold the memory of that one brand dear
*
There are objects to buy, things that I need everyday
Which one to buy- the plethora of choices blows my mind away
Precious hours I spend in reading reviews online
Still never certain that the product I finally find
Is genuinely the best, or my decision has been swayed
By clever marketing tactics, or complicated games played
By colossal corporations and search engines working in collusion
I don’t know if being a savvy consumer is just an illusion..
*
Then there is this pandemic we are dealing with now
Complaining that quarantine measures do not allow
Us to have unlimited choices in the way we had supposed
Was our fundamental right, we grumble about the restrictions imposed
Yet the choices that we still have today
Are such that they still allow us to get away
With behavior that undermines the greater good
We still do what we like, not what we should..
*
Freedom of choice is a gift, a blessing in many ways
But in excess it becomes counterproductive, I would say
We are spoiled by choices excessive
I think I would like to try to live
With fewer choices- so that I can eliminate
Chaos from my life, live in a more peaceful state..
Passion...unbridled 