Who Am I

A post by my friend Joey on his Blog got me thinking about "stuff" all the "stuff" we accumulate, otherwise known as possessions.   The idea was that what you own helps to define who you are, and also what class you belong to. I'm not at all sure what my possessions say about me.

One of the reasons this subject chimed with me is, of course, because I'm moving and that means packing up all my possessions.  Since I am actually downsizing as well it also means assessing all of my possessions and trying to decide if I really need them.   I am going to have such reduced space that the question does have to be "do I need it?" rather than "do I want it?"   It was relatively easy to get rid of crockery and glasses I never use, the same with some cookware. Books are difficult and so are clothes, but when I really come down to it there is very little that any of us actually need.  

A lot of our possession rarely see the light of day, my bread maker rarely comes out, the food processor a wee bit more often, these are just tools, but for some they can also be status symbols, helping them to self define who they are, others define themselves by what they do.   Ask a man what he is and he will more likely reply with his profession than his family status, yet being a father is much more important than being a solicitor.

This all seems a little sad, surely we should be defined by our character, how we impact on other people. So, as for me am I a gardener? a musician? a christian? a father? a woman? transgender? a friend? well yes to all of these, and each one of them is more important than how somebody else might want to label me, and put me in a class.

I won't say I don't care what other people think of me ~ because I do, but I want them to come by their opinions about me, not what I own, or indeed don't own.

Now I will have to try and do the same, and not judge somebody's character by the car they drive.