The Unloveable Things We Own

1844:

Once upon a time everything was valued and was potentially useful for something. It was a much more closely connected society, perhaps because people regarded what they possessed as they did personal relationships; they only had a few possessions so they had more regular use of them - ‘knew’ them better. It was more realistic to consider them by using them more wisely, mending them when malfunctioning. One’s possessions were taken more seriously and accepted with more gratitude than the way today, when we possess so much ‘stuff’.

In the past we believed things were worth having, worth using, worth repairing and worth sometimes talking to. And through them we could let our imagination flow. We could let them come alive and thereby feel more responsibility for them. Each item was known, accommodated and cared for. Or not, as the case may be.

When we use money to acquire ‘stuff’, we assume the role of its guardian, if only by providing each item with its space-to-be, it’s housing. Say with a car, we garage it and maintain it and in return it serves us well. It’s as if each ‘thing’, in its own way, puts us to the test as guardians. It might be said that in this way, objects have a will of their own and, when indispensable, can change our whole attitude to the way we see them. And just to test us to the final limit, they also can pose as a burden. It sometimes demands more attention than we want to give it. And then, it sulks. For when we neglect things which we use but don’t respect, that an ingratitude. It seems like something else, similar to our habitual abuse of animals. And this abuse is far graver than not maintaining the car (beyond tyres and brakes). Specifically, this abuse centres on denying the sensitivity of those sentient beings we use for food.