Luxury is personal happiness and comfort, few people will refuse the opportunity to live a luxurious life.
Indeed, sometimes it seems that the whole society is working hard to achieve this goal. If TV commercials are used as a guide, there is no value unless it has monetary value. Only the latest and most unique items are worth pursuing, and materialism is seen as commonplace in the pursuit of luxurious lifestyles.
However, to better understand the constant chasing of luxury in the modern world, it may be useful to stop for a moment and ask what the word actually means.
Comfortable, elegant and wealthy?
The common definition of luxury is being in a very comfortable and elegant state, which means that this state involves a certain degree of expense or exclusivity. In essence, luxury goods are not available to everyone, because the concept relies on enjoying comfort and pleasure on top of the commonly accepted necessities of life, and these require a little value to be fully understood as luxury goods…
Of course, recognizing that people are enjoying special treatment or a higher level of comfort is a major aspect of true luxury, although the exact nature of this extra comfort will depend on the standards enjoyed by the rest of society.
Not just materialism
However, a luxurious lifestyle is not just a material pursuit of materials. Luxury also involves a fulfilling life, a unique experience, and the ability to be spiritual and financial. It can be the appreciation of natural wonders, or the thrill of driving an expensive sports car, because it depends on the freedom to enjoy and appreciate the beautiful things in life, rather than applying a fixed value measurement standard to every aspect. Some people may be Luxury is defined in terms of price, but not only that, but there is no established standard that applies globally.
Consider two lifestyles that can be described as luxurious. The first involves elements of hobbies that are generally considered expensive: luxury sports cars, casino visits, fine wine and food, and clothes tailored from the finest fabrics. The second way of life is nothing more than a safe and warm home, enough food, good health and family happiness. Which one of them is truly the most satisfying?
Nonetheless, it is still possible to experience luxury in many ways that don’t necessarily rely on extravagance. Luxury can have very different definitions depending on who is judging the situation, and on the normal state that provides starting point.
For a child who has never experienced the pleasure of a cold ice cream on a sunny summer’s day, a single scoop of vanilla could represent a rare treat, and be an experience that surpasses all expectations. On the other hand, a more fortunate child with more extensive experience of frozen confectionery may need several such treats a day to feel the same sense of luxury.
Likewise, people in the western world may see a bottle of champagne and a platter of smoked salmon as the ultimate in luxury dining experiences, while family members from their grandparents’ generation may well have been supremely satisfied to simply have enough food to stave off hunger, and enough clean water to slake thirst without the risk of disease. Indeed, across the world, even today more people would be likely to appreciate the latter than regularly experience the former.
But it is not only when expectations are exceeded that one can feel a sense of luxury. After a long day’s work, the sheer luxury of being able to sit and rest with no further calls on one’s time is something to be truly savored, even though this may be a daily happening that is in no way unexpected. In the same way, many people’s idea of a dream holiday is to spend time on a tropical beach, doing nothing much at all, except enjoying the freedom from work and the daily demands of existence – a real luxury when compared to the hard circumstances many people face in their usual lives.
The Luxury of Technology and the Future
If one definition of luxury is the ability to step back from the rigors of daily life and take time to enjoy living rather than simply existing, then society as a whole may need to confront this concept in the very near future. Technology has brought about a revolution in the working lives of huge numbers of people, with knowledge and creativity becoming more valued than physical work. The entire sum of human learning is available at the swipe of a smartphone, and the digital economy means traditional work patterns are dissolving. This process continues to accelerate, with automation replacing many conventional manual jobs.
Many experts are forecasting that the long-coveted life of leisure may be about to become a reality for millions of former workers, although this is likely to present more than a few difficulties for society: when the basic needs of the population can be met without the norm of the 40-hour working week, what is the definition