The case for moderation.

Kate Luckins won the Opinion category in the Mamamia Women’s Network and HarperCollins Publishers inaugural Writers’ Competition. Chosen from more than 800 entrants, here is her first submitted story.

By Kate Luckins

A cursory look at one’s Instragram or Facebook feed is comparable to being hit by a lightning bolt of extreme commitment. Every blogger has chosen a battle to rule whether it be mainstream like #fitspo (requiring mandatory chiselled abs and bikini-clad yoga montages) or more obscure like the #crazycatlady trend that has just shy of two million kooky participants.

The desire to claim a hashtag has replaced the humble high five.

To create a social media sensation, the formula is the same. Take something good like the consumption of food or exercise, upscale, then intensify it fifty-billion-fold and add a generous dollop of cyber boasting. It’s simply exhausting just taking it all in. Instead of becoming a disciple of #fitspo, I’ve been harbouring a growing appreciation for moderation.

It’s on the quiet because moderation ain’t sexy. It ain’t fashionable. And disappointingly, it doesn’t have a hash tag. Oh no wait, it does. 130K+ people have used #moderation but upon closer inspection, most of them use it ironically next to a pile of delicious greedy food. That’s not the point.

Moderation isn’t a part of our modern lexicon because extremism is so much more exciting to read and talk about. You don’t reduce sugar, you quit it. No one boasts about going for a 3km jog but a marathon is the perfect Facebook fodder. Even a half marathon will get you a few likes from those of us to struggle to move our limbs further than 3km.

Kim Kardashian famously set out to “break the internet”. She wouldn’t be satisfied with putting a small dent in its side. You get my point.

While not particuarly catchy nor cool, moderation has many merits among which I’d cite the preservation of sanity. If you deprive yourself of chocolate, your brain goes wild with desire for it (as I’ve seen on my test mouse husband). If you limit yourself to a few pieces and savour it like some superior French sort, you will truly live and extract the maximum enjoyment from the experience (so says Mireille Guilano, author of ‘French Women Don’t Get Fat’!)

With a moderate approach to budgeting and a considered approach to shopping, you can merrily walk the line (or skip if you prefer?) between deprivation and overindulgence. You can feel like a savvy shopper who bought something of value to treasure. You needn’t take out a 5th credit card to play the ‘juggle-the-balance’ game all the way to your first nervous breakdown. You can buy one dress, maybe two if it fits and flatters just so. You don’t have to indulge in fashion gluttony and overstuff your wardrobe.

When it comes to exercise, moderation is the key to gradually forming better habits. Disciples of the Bridges school of biggest-losering will disagree. But when you have’t done exercise for a while because you’ve been indisposed elsewhere (potentially creating life within your belly and pushing it out into the world) a little bit goes a long way. Speaking as someone who went from never running to giving it a red hot go and earning some serious shin splints for the privilege, with the benefit of hindsight, moderation is key. It may be the difference between maintaining an exercise regime (albeit modest) and couch potato-dom.

In modern life, we tend to think we can instantly overhaul anything and everything and it’s more efficient to do it all at once. We renovate houses at a pace set by “The Block” without the extra team of 20 tradies, project managers and secret designers. We don’t just want to hang a few pictures or artful wooden boxes and add a throw. We desire the complete home overhaul.

It’s probably Cinderella’s fault that we love and celebrate ‘makeover’ culture. And in a consumerist world, everything can be purchased from longer lashes to bigger boobs. We can “fix” the flaws and flaunt the “after” shots so that this extremism becomes the new normal.

But taking a leaf out of the book of moderation (which I’m yet to write), we will find taking one small bite and chewing it well will help us evolve towards a better, brighter future and enable us to stay there. Moving at a moderate pace towards more relatable goals can be much more pleasurable, even if it’s not so readily Instragrammable.#realnonironicuseofthewordmoderation

Kate Luckins – Winner of the Opinion category

Kate Luckins is a proud mother of two little fellas, wife of a handsome and clever gent, friend to many, maker of much tasty food, occasional writer and illustrator and enthusiastic consumer of fashion. In a former life BK (Before Kids) she completed a Masters of Fashion, founded The Clothing Exchange and even completed her PhD in sustainable living. She penned the odd piece for Peppermint Magazine and enjoyed her role as a commentator on sustainable fashion and sustainable lifestyles. Now she has lived a bit more life to draw inspiration from, she is keen to put fingers to keys to share some cool ideas and sometimes outrageous opinions via the written word.