Material Definitions Of A Non-Materialistic Man

Material Definitions of a Non-Materialistic Man

Many people, including Joan Kron, author of the essay entitled "The Semiotics of Home Dйcor," believe that every object that a human being possesses can say something about its owner, whether outright or personally. She states that objects can have various different values to their owners, such as links to their past, security or perhaps personal comfort, and are possessed and used for various reasons, such as ways to convey status, competition, or personal control. One could say she states that possessions can be described as personal identifications, rather than just simply possessions. I will not disagree with this fact, but I will have to say I am not one of these people; people who buy things to show their identity, whether in style, culture, history, or simply social competition. I identify myself with my actions, my words, and my personal reputation. Still, as it is a fact that no item can be bought or simply taken without some sort of similarity, common ground, or feeling of comfort between the person and the object, it can reasonably be inferred there are a few objects that can define myself as a person, whether it be of social or personal value.

Still, I have never been one to define myself with materialistic objects, such as clothing, automobiles, and other technology. I am not the least like Martin J. Davidson, a man mentioned in Kron's essay, who was so materialistic, the article written in the New York Times about him was titled "When Nothing but the Best Will Do" (109). To desire to be so materialistically superior is what I see as a pointless and downright pathetic way of not only defining oneself, but also seeking social acceptance. The clothing I wear certainly can not define me, at least to the eyes of those who see them. I suppose if one knew their origins, which is usually a marked off rack of clothing at Goodwill, they might see me as cheap, or perhaps uncaring towards the fads of society, the latter being the truth, but they are still not my way of identification. Still, if I were to consider it carefully, I suppose there are some items that define me as a person, though these definitions are mainly personal, and do not have to do with such social ideals as acceptance or competition.

In Kron's essay, she states that "things are cherished not because of the material comfort they provide but for the information they convey about the owner and his or her ties to others" (114). This means that products are bought not only for the desire to own them, but also for the desire for a material-way of expressing oneself to others who view you with that product. This is most true towards my first object, or objects, if you count every part of the item itself. This object is my collection of various store-bought and homemade CDs. In literal terms, it is a collection of at least 60 different music CDs, having a variety of songs; short and long, sad and happy, country, pop, and even rap, etc. If one simply examined this collection, they would most likely be baffled, being it shows no distinct identity or theme.

If one listened to all the CDs, they would find an extremely diverse arrangement of music, with genres ranging from the soft, flowing melodies of Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," to the powerful, heart-wrenching songs of Josh Groban; from the soft rock love songs of Celine Dion, to the hard rock music of Nickelback. I even have songs from the genres I otherwise would absolutely abhor, such as the rap tunes of Eminen, the country music of Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, and the alternative songs of Enigma. To find a general theme to my collection, just by listening to every song, would be an impossible task, that is, unless one dug beneath the randomness of the songs and actually explored the randomness itself.

What these songs do for me is convey my cultural beliefs. These beliefs are centered on one ideal: In order to be truly broad-minded and intellectually superior in life, one must be able to experience, understand, and, hopefully, enjoy various forms of culture. One of the best ways of doing this is to listen to the various songs and their genres. By doing this, I am able to educate myself about different genres and their various backgrounds, thus becoming a more intellectual and diverse human being.

The music also allows for me to gain a deep sense of relaxation. By letting the music enter my ear and allowing its messages to slide into my brain and its thoughts, I am able to lose myself in the stories, messages, and themes of the music, letting me leave this uncontrollably stressful reality and enter that of music. Listening to the lyrics of such songs as "Ordinary World," by Duran Duran, allows me to enter a world beyond that in which I exist. I am able to lose myself and immerse my mind and soul in these feelings, with such lines as "Papers in the roadside tell of suffering and grief, feared today, forgot tomorrow. Here beside the news of holy war and holy need, ours is just a little sorrowed talk." With this, I am truly able to be at peace, which so many parts of this life simply do not allow.

Csikszentmihalyi and Rockberg-Halton discovered, according to Kron's essay, that some objects meant more to people than their price tags, and some items, more personal and simpler than others, could mean more than more expensive, numerous objects the same people may own (114). What they are saying is many items owned by people are possessed not because they cost a lot of money, but because they have a more personal value to their owner, and can certainly mean more to them than other objects that are much more available to them and cost much more. My next item focuses more on the developmental aspect of a portion, if not one of the most important portions, of my personal and public identity, and is certainly not expensive (let alone priced at all) or as common as other things in my possession. The item is a folder containing the collection of all the short stories, songs, and poems I wrote when I first began writing as a form of personal enjoyment, starting when I was in the sixth grade. It is a personal memento of my early days of writing, as well as the time when my future goals of education and career choice began to shape. Truth be told, the stories are not that good, although as a younger man, I thought they were fantastic. Such is youthful ignorance, I suppose.

They would have such amateur poetic lines as, "There once was a hole, in my body, it was there. It wasn't created by knife, disease, pull or tear," and such short-story lines attempting romance as, ""I love you, Relena. I have since the day I met you. I can only hope that you love me too." Relena looked at Herro,