News

Whether we like it or not, most of us (well, I guess all of us) are now in the middle of a massive reappraisal of what we should be spending our money on, both as a society and as individuals. So this newsflash may be of interest: Spending money on things will not make us nearly as happy as spending it on experiences.

That's the conclusion of Ryan Howell, an assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State University (although if there continues to be a torrent of studies, especially by obscure American psychology professors, on what really makes people happy, the U.S. Declaration of Independence will need to be updated to include, as one of the inalienable rights of man, "the pursuit of surveys on happiness").

This one, however, is timely. According to Prof. Howell's survey of 154 people aged 19 to 50, once our basic needs - housing, food, job - have been met, we'll get more joy for our buck by going to a ball game or taking in a night at the theatre or even going on a modest vacation than, say, buying the latest flat-screen TV.

Mind you, I've heard close relatives rhapsodically compare their massive flat-screen TVs to the promised land. But as Prof. Howell explained in one interview, "it's not that material things don't bring any happiness. It's just that they don't bring as much ...You're happy with a new television set. But you're thrilled with a vacation."

The novelty of any new possession inevitably wears off and, as you age, the fevers of acquisition do burn out. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever said on her deathbed, "I just wish I'd had more cashmere sweaters." (I do wish that, but I am not planning to die at the moment.)

No, they turn to a loved one and whisper, "Remember that sunset over the Bay of Fundy, when we saw the whales?" Experiences not only invigorate you, they provide what Prof. Howell calls "dividends on your investment" - otherwise known as memories.

At least a decade before she died, I stopped giving my mother things as gifts and concentrated instead on outings she would love, knowing that it would satisfy her two desires - to experience something new and to spend more time together.

The other key component of experiences is sociability. When we share experiences with others, they create indelible and sometimes romantic bonds. As Humphrey Bogart said to Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, "We'll always have Paris."

My list of great experiences includes undeniably costly ones - a celebratory night with my husband at the Santa Fe Opera, where we enjoyed The Marriage of Figaro in the amphitheatre with the darkening desert sky as the backdrop. And relatively inexpensive excursions - walking arm in arm with our grown children around Montreal last fall - although come to think of it, there was that café lunch and a movie later that cost some bucks.

That's the trouble. While you apparently don't have to spend anything to get the emotional benefit of an "experience," decades of aspirational living, especially by financially heedless baby boomers, have resulted in our commodifying experiences: 100 places to go before you die, the best dining or drinking excursions, adventure holidays. We ascribe a certain status to them so that doing something cost-free and simple is seen as inadequate: What did you do on your birthday? You went for a walk?

Yet we also genuinely yearn to change our lives through new experiences. There is now a whole pop-cult science attached to creating a "bucket list" - a list of experiences you want to have before you kick the bucket, apparently named after a movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. In a how-to manual posted on a Squidoo web page, one contributor solemnly advises, "Start by creating a preliminary rough draft; you can always add, delete, or modify as you go along. ... Play Baroque music in the background. ... The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi and Pachelbel's Canon have been shown to slow brainwaves down to the alpha range, the brain frequency which has been linked to increased creativity." This seems like a capital E "experience" all in itself.

And what if that memorable experience you are now planning is going to sit on your Visa statement as a hideous unpaid balance? Probably better to go for that walk in the park instead.

Or here's a thought: Maybe the "experience" of simply paying off your credit-card balance will create happy memories for years to come.

Somehow I doubt it. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to order tickets to the ballet. It's going to be a perfect "start of spring" experience.

jtimson@globeandmail.com