You Can't Take It With You

Have you ever noticed how much "stuff" we have? I mean shit, if we didn't have so much stuff we wouldn't need such huge houses. We could drive smaller cars, no one would ever need to pay for a storage unit, and we wouldn't have to have such huge fucking purses. We are obsessed with stuff. In fact some people let their "stuff" determine the course of their life. Who we marry, where we live, what we do for work, (based of course on how much money we will make to determine how much stuff we can buy). We are a society of consumers based on having, storing, accumulating, showing off, coveting and down right worshiping our "stuff". Although, what we really want is to have other people worship our stuff right? Doesn't THAT feel good?
This can't be normal. I am afraid our "stuff" is taking over our lives, interfering in our relationships. In fact our "stuff" can easily become a priority and prevent us from having the one thing we really NEED to survive--LOVE. Ahhh, but who needs love when you have "stuff".
We love our stuff, we love other peoples stuff. We love dead peoples stuff so much so in fact, we fight over it. How many people have lost a friend or relative after fighting over somebodies stuff that has died? Now for those of you who know me, I am NOT a stuff person, but even I have caught myself saying to a loved one "When your dead can I have your stuff". It's almost as if we look right past the living person and miss opportunities to simply love each other. And for what? Because of our obsession with stuff.
What about trying to move into together. My God...the STUFF. There's no room for your stuff. Who's gonna sacrifice THEIR stuff? How about we get rid of all our stuff that is MINE or YOURS and buy new stuff that is OURS so we can start a life "together". Really? You couldn't start a life with the stuff you HAD before? It's as if to say "we" are not a "we" unless "we" go through the rite of passage that IS purchasing "stuff"--together--it's ridiculous.
I say if it works use it and make it earn it's keep. That's right, make your stuff justify it's existence. If it isn't getting used-in other words, it is unable to prove it's worth, get rid of it. In fact, I feel so strongly about this...I will even try to get rid of YOUR stuff while I am on a vacation at YOUR house, (just ask my mom). There is just something about the accumulation of stuff that makes me very uncomfortable.
Now that being said, don't think for a minute I don't have my own "stuff" (while most of it is non-tangible emotional baggage), it still qualifies as stuff. But have you ever noticed how judgemental we are about stuff? It's almost as if to say a person with emotional "stuff" can be dealt with but a person with really awful "stuff" in their house is a problem. Haven't you ever been somewhere, someones house and left thinking "God, THEIR "stuff" is awful." and then said "We are definitely NOT going back THERE." Why is it that other people's stuff is "shit" and your shit is "stuff"? Is this really how we measure OUR value? Is it how WE measure someone else's value? It's the equivalent of saying YOU are ok because your STUFF is ok. Who is to say who's stuff is "OK" and who's isn't? Who gets to decide whether or not having a garden gnome makes you acceptable? If I don't care about garden gnomes your having a "collection" doesn't mean shit to me. What about giving some body else YOUR old stuff? What makes us think OUR stuff is so great that once we decide we don't want it we still think someone else might? Isn't this a little presumptuous?
The importance of our stuff really cannot be measured. Have you ever tried to pack for a trip? Oh shit...what "stuff" am I going to bring? It's a tough decision whether or not to bring this or that? Why do we bring so many clothes when we end up wearing the same thing the WHOLE trip?
I think we really have become a society of "stuff" worshipers who can't distinguish between what is US and what is our "stuff". Well...I don't believe in life after death...I do however, believe in death, and this expression seems to be what one might call a "universal" truth...you can't take it with you. Whether I'm right or not about the afterlife, no person is taking anything with them anywhere after they are dead. Call it what you will, Christian philosophy--valuing good works over material possessions, or the simple physics of being dead (you can't carry anything with you once you are dead) the point remains the same...none of it really matters in the end. (Unless I need a place to put my "stuff" and your "shit" is in the way--then we're gonna have a problem.)