This might sound strange, but I love my stuff: all of my little quirky collections, hand-me-downs, gifts received from friends and loved ones over the years. Does this make me materialistic? Well...yes! But, maybe materialism doesn't have to be such a dirty word. What if we thought of it this way: if you are materialistic, you cherish your things, you see them as connecting you with others, both past and present; you value the things you have worked hard for; you are deeply sentimental. This doesn't mean you are necessarily greedy or even that cherish objects more than people. Perhaps it just means you find value and comfort in the things you have lovingly gathered around you.
The people we often accuse of being materialistic are typically the ones who see their stuff as ephemeral, replaceable, throwaway -- the ones who are always after the next best, biggest, blinking object of desire. But, this isn't materialism, this is the opposite -- this is a blatant dissatisfaction with possessions, a driving need to fill a void with more and more and more to no avail...
I would like to bring "materialism" back into the light, take away its status as a dirty word, and renew our connection with the things that fill our homes and hearts. I'm not calling for a preoccupation or obsession with stuff, but rather, a simple nod to the value our unique posessions bring to our life -- however small, strange, or worthless they might seem to others. Let's give our stuff a little love!!
