What if you could fall in love with something and not need to own it? What if the story was enough?

This episode is about the strange practice of falling in love with vintage Kodak slides at thrift stores, building entire worlds around strangers' vacation photos, and walking away empty-handed. It's the messy middle ground between wanting and taking, between capitalism's grip on our happiness and what actually makes us feel alive.

Inspired by years of inner work, therapy and the ⁠Science of Well-Being course at Yale⁠, this explores what it costs to train yourself to love without possessing. Not about minimalism. Not about anti-consumerism. Just someone figuring out a weird new kind of math where you can want something AND leave it behind.

If you've ever felt that flutter when beauty hits, if you collect feelings instead of objects, or if you're tired of turning every moment of joy into something you need to optimize or own, this one's for you. Stream-of-consciousness meets emotional archaeology.

⁠Read the full essay that inspired this episode.⁠

This is Audio Spells from ⁠The Blue Algorithm⁠: a voice-note series exploring emotional truth, nervous system wisdom, and the gap between who we think we should be and who we actually are.

Song featured: "safety scissors" by @melissageurts

Created by ⁠Melissa Geurts⁠⁠, Group Executive Creative Director at Good Housekeeping and founder of The Blue Algorithm.

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If this cracked something open for you pass it on. Or don't. This one might just be for you.

Connect: Follow @melissageurts on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ | Subscribe to ⁠⁠The Blue Algorithm⁠⁠ on Substack | Listen to more emotional storytelling at ⁠⁠melissageurts.com⁠

Topics discussed: happiness research, consumer psychology, mindful consumption, thrift store finds, vintage photography, emotional attachment, letting go practice, savoring experiences, anti-consumerism, capitalism and happiness, nervous system regulation, love without ownership, collecting stories, minimalism, detachment theory, gratitude practice, mindfulness meditation, emotional archaeology, consumer culture criticism, well-being science, possession vs appreciation, vintage Kodak slides, thrift shopping psychology, material attachment, conscious consumption, emotional regulation, inner work, people pleasing recovery, judgment anxiety, decision fatigue, object storytelling