A life not a lifestyle

Read something about this the other day. How us baby boomers never grow up, we are trapped in this childlike state that necessitates instructions for all aspects of our lives, like fashion, like furniture, cars and houses. Restaurants, vacations, briefcases, computers, coffee - all so-called lifestyle choices. Got me to thinking about solutions, office solutions, clutter solutions. Not to mention all those silly notices on things - "warning coffee is HOT". Duh. or "don't immerse in water when appliance is plugged in." Right. As if we are all two planks ignorant and more insensate than a turnip. Are we? Do I need a little plaid jacket for my dog? Or a pink Ipod? How about earth tones in the dining room - everyone HAS this year? Are these all the Great Distractions to counteract the Great Decider? Are we so busy with lifestyle we forget our lives? So we drift along as Great Consumers, on to the next Vogue Declaration of what we need? Like infants? Is there original thinking anymore? Is it rarer than a hen's tooth? Can't I have my style and you have yours? Would that be OK? How many magazines would that put out of business? Not to mention TV shows and interior designers and paint shops. Would that mean then that we could be free to collect seeds and march against the war in protest and just grow our hair and use lanolin on our dry skin and make our own soap and.....just wondering.