Attachments

Have you ever had to get rid of a significant amount of your possessions?  An extremely unscientific survey of my friends suggests that a few people find this activity cathartic and the rest of us hate it with a passion.  And why is it that we hate it?

On the one hand, there is a redeeming quality of having to take stock of all of your belongings and either find a place for them to fit into the moving truck or toss it (or sell it).  But on the other hand, there seem to be an almost unending amount of things that you need (like organizing drawers/baskets) that don't seem to fit into things that you pack, but are necessary for having an organized home, and they can get expensive if you keep tossing them and buying new ones with every move. 

Then, there are those things that you are personally attached to, but don't necessarily have a great reason for your attachment.  Like, the lamp that has adorned my bedside for years.  I know that because I bought it for $20 eight years ago, the same type of lamp will cost $50+ nowadays and it won't likely be exactly what I like.  I find my mood takes a deep southward dive the minute I start thinking about getting rid of it, and giving it away, not even selling it!  Don't even get me started on how pissy I get the moment my shoes stop fitting into things and there isn't enough room in my jewelry box for large earrings.  Oh yeah, it's bad.

I mean, really, why is it that I can't seem to throw out these things without all of these feelings of attachment to these things?!  What is interesting to me is that I think this might be a fairly specific American problem.  It's not exactly hoarding because I'm not talking about collecting things compulsively and just accumulating things.  I can't help but wonder if, as Americans, our consumerist culture makes us inherently more attached to things because we see consuming as one of the most active modes of citizenship.  What I'm suggesting is perhaps the idea that because buying things is an articulation of our belief in America (I'm not going to cite sources here, but consumerism as an patriotic act is pretty widely studied) our things come to take on a meaning beyond just their utilitarian purpose.

It's just a thought.  And as I have a few more days of packing and getting rid of things, I might have more to say on this topic soon.