Comments on: You know you have too much stuff when…

By: Toonces

Toonces — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:43:00 +0000

A perfect example:
http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2008/05/07/they-match-the-plastic-slipcover-on-the-futon/

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:23:47 +0000

You really hit the head with this post. I’ve known many people with this exact complex.

By: brown

brown — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:05:15 +0000

I, too, have always found the plastic-on-the-furniture/”these towels are for company” syndrome to be odd…even a little sad. But I think that is significantly different than attaching memory/sentiment to an object. I don’t know the history between this girl and her mom, but I can’t judge a person for hanging onto a piece of physical evidence that validates memories. The more distant a memory becomes, the fuzzier it gets, and the more likely one is to doubt its reality. Especially in the absence of others who share in their significant memories, physical reminders can help a person feel…sane.

By: NomadicNeil

NomadicNeil — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:37:24 +0000

It’s commodity fetishism as Marx would say.

By: Colin Wright

Colin Wright — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:07:03 +0000

Oh man, I can’t stand sentimentality for the sake of sentimentality. If you want to own wine glasses, get some wine glasses that serve a function, but why hold on to them if they only exist to exist?

I’ve written a few posts about this very subject because it seems to be one part of my personal philosophy that many people just can’t seem to wrap their minds around. The idea of ‘keepsakes’ have been so ingrained into humanity through tradition and modern media (that want to convince you that what they are telling you to buy is a keepsake) that we accumulate until we eventually drown in our own pile of knick-knacks and greeting cards.

Great example. This illustrates the point perfectly!

By: Earl

Earl — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:46:08 +0000

When I was growing up, we had a living room in our house, complete with two sofas and a coffee table. However, my parents not only didn’t allow anyone to sit on the sofas, they didn’t allow anyone to enter the room at all. I always questioned them about these odd rules and they would just say, “it’s such a nice room, we don’t want anyone to mess it up.” They would actually check the carpet to see if we walked on it when they weren’t home!