14.6.21 Monday – Meaningful or Meaningless ?

Monday – Meaningful or meaningless?

Oh the amount of stuff we humans accumulate over a lifetime. I have thought about this a lot this past year. Do you attach a lot of meaning to your things? Which things have more sentimental value? For me, it’s the objects that someone has made for me. But it wasn’t always like that, I’m sure.

Psychologists have often studied human behaviour in relation to the objects we possess.  Very young children naturally just help themselves to things they are curious about or want. But society tells them which objects they can and cannot take. And then they have to learn to share. If you have kids, you might remember this. We as parents tell our kids that they can’t just take a toy that isn’t theirs. And so, with time, the child learns that objects give control to the owner. And they become possessive of their toys and have to learn to share. 

Some possessions are quite powerful. Certain objects remind us of someone. There can seem to be a physical presence of a dead person in an object. But things are just things, right? Not for everyone.

My dad (now gone since a few years) helped me financially to buy my first Mac laptop several years ago. This meant so much to me that when the computer began to malfunction and it was obvious that I needed to get a new one, I felt very sad about giving it up. I held on tight to that device even while it was heating up and taking what seemed like forever to boot up. I didn’t want to let go. But it was only a computer! My husband reminded me of that. 

The thing is though, that computer reminded me of the conversation with my dad. It still makes my eyes leak and my throat constricts. Silly but so true. 

Everyone accumulates stuff. Ever since the industrial revolution when plastic and machines to fabricate objects were invented, we are being duped into thinking that we need more stuff. Do you know that the value that you attach to something increases when you own it? If you believe that it’s yours, then you feel that it’s worth more and you want to own it even more. This is why car salespersons ask you to test drive a new car that you are hesitating to buy. Making you feel that you own it makes you want it even more. 

 For some, it’s so difficult to live with less, isn’t it? Many of us own more things than we need. I once heard a comedian say: our houses are just boxes of stuff with lids.  Some of our possessions get intertwined with our identity. So, can we say that some of our possessions also own us? 

But it seems to me like the tide is turning. Many young people are realizing that we should be minimizing the amount of stuff we own. I see it in our own boys who are very light travellers. Our youngest son came home from university recently announcing that he wanted to get rid of all the junk in his room; he didn’t want attachment to stuff anymore. Yay! He really cleaned that space out!

The pandemic has woken some of us up to the overconsumption absurdity of our part of the world. Something that I hold more dearly now than possessing things is creating memories and recording them in photos. Yes, they’re also possessions…for those days when I want to remember good times. 

In the past when we moved quite often, moving house helped to get rid of unnecessary objects. Last time we moved it was to a smaller house, so we made a rule that if we buy one new thing (clothes or not) we have to also get rid of one thing. I will continue to stick to that rule and then next time we need something, let’s make sure it’s a second-hand object.

It’s a real challenge to not buy objects, isn’t it? How are you managing it? Do you find that you have more sentimental attachments to certain things? Are you a hoarder or is it easy for you to get rid of stuff? 

So that’s it for Mmmmonday, may it have Meaning. Be well, sweet people, take care and until next time!