I really admire Freyer for what he did. As I was reading the passage from his book, I was looking around and noticing all the things I had brought with me from home so that I could live comfortably at school. Many of the items I own seem ridiculous and useless, except that they have some sort of memory or story attatched to them that I am afraid of forgetting. Other items seem necessary and I couldn't possibly imagine not having them. . . but then again, Freyer sold his toaster, his clothes, family memoribilia! Freyer started off simply realising that he needed to declutter his life in order to continue living the life he was trying to create for himself, but he came to the realization that selling a few items here and there would never truly be enough "decluttering."
I collect items all the time. People give me things and I hold onto them: letters, mugs, shirts, pens, ridiculous little things that have no real business being in my life. I buy useless items all the time too! Yet I constantly berate other people for relying on material things. I figured that because I wasn't running out to buy the latest gadget or whatever, that I wasn't materialistic. But stuff is stuff. . . or as Carlin said so eloquently "there stuff is shit and your shit is stuff."
I am happy that in the end, Freyer has his little epiphany. He choose to stop running around brooding over his stuff and their places in other people's lives and he chose to settle down. Not settle in life, but settle down, become as he said "grounded" somewhere.
I think we all want to have things, big and small, expensive and inexpensive, etc. but we also want to be able to just leave and escape when life seems too daunting or maybe just mundane. We crave that freedom yet we simultaneously crave possessions. I am not sure which is more important, if one even is. I have lots of things I could never part with and I have a lot of desire to just go sometimes. And if I went somewhere I'd find it necessary to pack a "smaller version of my stuff" as Carlin said so I guess I will somewhat reluctantly come to the conclusion that I am human and that means that the need for stuff and the need for unbrideled freedom are just part of my nature.
Compelling post, Kylie. Do you think this conflict between the desire for freedom and the desire for stuff is becoming more pronounced? How does the digital age affect it?
ReplyDeleteI read "On the Road" 3 semesters ago and as selfish and reckless as I found Kourac and the gang to be... I secretly admired them. I wanted to feel that I had the freedom to come and go as I pleased, to feel as if I could go and do anything with no regard to the people I encounter, to never look back.
ReplyDeleteBut I feel so burdened by the expectations of the society I live in and my family. I'd definitely say though that people today definitely want to experience freedom (we feel pressured to go to school and "grow-up" when many of us want to see the world and what not) yet we are so materialistic and stuck in our perception of the way things should be that we don't entirely posess the freedom we could have.