Possession #19 - Stained Glass Window

I like this video of Matthew Pickering singing, "Your Beauty Transforms Every Space." Not quite sure what it all means, but it makes me think of the power that beauty has of changing our environment. One purpose of some of my stuff is to add a bit of beauty to my home. I don't want my house to just be a place where I eat and sleep. Hopefully, it has some restorative qualities and for me, that has a lot to do with how much beauty I have in it.

This stained glass window comes from my parent's home which they had to get rid of when they downsized to a smaller apartment. So, it not only adds some beauty to the front porch but it carries memories and meaning. What are the things that you find beautiful in your home? What do they do for you?

Possession #18 - Another Lamp and Stand

The perspective and camera settings are different on this one, but it's identical to the lamp and stand from the last post - a matched set. Isn't it cool how stuff can look different from another angle? In fact, one of my goals is to present all my stuff in as artistically a pleasing way as possible even though most of it is...well...just stuff. Going to all the effort of doing this is making me wonder if a miss a lot of beauty that's right under my nose simply because I'm so used to it...or maybe also because there's so much darn much of it! If you want another really cool perspective on...ummm...perspective then look at this interactive presentation of the scale of the universe...after you do this, then take another look at the dust bunnies under your couch. See if they look the same. What do you think?

Possession #17 - Lamp on a stand

I always love to listen to the gritty graciousness of Anne Lamotte. She once wrote in a Salon article, "Everything I've ever let go of, has claw marks on it." She was talking about forgiveness, but I suppose the same thing could be true about our stuff...maybe they're kind of the same thing.

I love lamps. I'd rather turn on three lamps if I can extinguish one overhead light (spotlights I call them). I've always had a thing for subdued lighting - candles, fireplaces, Christmas tree lights. I'd banish all fluorescent lighting if I could. Candlelight always hides the imperfections in the meal and makes for a more intimate atmosphere....atmosphere, that's the thing! If Jesus is the light of the world, I choose to believe he's a candle or a string of glowing tree lights rather than an antiseptic fluorescent. Also...keeping the lights dim is a great way to take care of all the dust on the bookshelves.

Possession #16 - Rug

When we purchased this rug we had just moved to a small town and were looking for something to put on our nice wood floors. A local store had a nice selection of rugs that might work, but we weren't sure. The owner of the store told us to go ahead and take it home and try it out to see if we liked it. Being mostly from bigger cities I waited for the "catch." I was waiting for what sort of promises I would be obligated to if I walked out the door with the rug. I pulled out my wallet assuming some sort of collateral would be needed - a credit card, driver's licence, my first born child... at the very least, an exchange of vital information. Instead, the owner told us she didn't need a thing, she knew who we were, she trusted us with her rug. We walked out with the rug and had our our first lesson in the uniquely amazing culture of small town America.

We kept the rug. At first I didn't really want to walk on it for fear of getting it dirty. I certainly didn't think our dog should lie on it...that lasted for about a day. Now, I've never put plastic slip covers on our couches, but I do get a little hyper-sensitive about "messing up" things. In my perfect world, I supposed, we wouldn't sit on the chairs, walk on the rugs or put food on the dining room table. Why is it I'm sometimes afraid to use things for the purposes that they were created? I guess I have a hard time trusting things to do what they're supposed to do and I want them to last forever without wearing out. I'm learning......we all wear out.

Possession #15 - Small table

This nice little table was built by my Uncle who liked futzing around in the workshop. It's great for meals in the living room and games of chess with my son (except that now he can beat me!). It does make me wonder why we have collapsible furniture. Probably, I suppose, so that when we're not using it, we can fold it up and put it out of the way to make room for other stuff (like large dogs who like to lie in the middle of the rug). According to the National Association of Home Builders, the average home size in the United States was 983 square feet in the 1950's, 1,400 square feet in the 1970's and 2,700 square feet in 2009. What are we doing with all that extra space!... oh yes... stuff!

Possession #14 - End Table

Another entire category of things is "Things That Have Been Given To Us." It always reminds me of that fabulous scene in "A Christmas Story" when Ralphie gets the pink bunny pajamas from his Aunt Clara and is obligated to try it on. Now, I love this end table but since it was given to us by a friend, there's always a complicated brain-negotiation when trying to figure out where it fits in the household furniture hierarchy. And what do you do with those things that you want to get rid of but friend-obligation keeps them around. I suppose this is another version of the idea that many of our things are placeholders for ideas, values, friendships and memories.

Possession #13 - Coffee Table

Coffee Tables make me think of Coffee table books which seem to me to be objects whose only purpose is to be on display and rarely if ever used. They are in stark contrast to the coffee table itself which has many wonderful uses: 1) Holding coffee cups (of course). 2) Resting place for feet (If my parents aren't in the room). 3) Temporary dinner table in the living room during the Super Bowl. 4) Place to collect other stuff that has no assigned place.

I'm wondering if we have other objects like coffee table books - only purchased for show - for making an impression on others. On the other hand, you should probably take a look at the old episode from Seinfeld about coffee table books.

Possession #12 - Recliner Chair

Jean tends to get lost inside the lay-z-boy. So, a couple years ago we found a more size-challenged version of a recliner chair. It goes just perfect with a winter night, hot chocolate, a good book and a fire in the fireplace!

In the first few years of married life we made a gradual transition from salvation army chairs and orange crate end tables to furniture from actual furniture stores. We moved from temporary dorm rooms to various apartments and rental duplexes to our first house. At what point in life does this trajectory of moving to bigger and better things start moving in the other direction? When do we stop acquiring new end tables, couches and lamps and instead, start downsizing and letting go?

Here's an interesting youtube video about "stuff." At the very least it speaks to the need for being more intentional about our acquisitions. What kind of thoughts do you have when you're looking at new stuff?

Possession #11 - Grandma's Wooden Chair

Michael Lindvall in a 2010 Christian Century article suggests that our human problem is not that we love all our stuff too much - it's that we don't love it enough. Lindvall reminds us that God isn't opposed to stuff. In the 6 days of creation God made all kinds of stuff! And at Christmas we celebrate how the eternal God chose to become one with the very stuff-ness of humanity. The problem tends to be that we don't care about all this created stuff enough. We get bored with our stuff. We toss it in the garbage and buy new stuff. We keep wanting new stuff because we don't honor the stuff already around us.

This chair reminds me of the lasting goodness of stuff. It once sat in my grandparents' living room and is the only thing I have of theirs to remind me of the time I spent growing up on their farm. A couple years ago I gave it to my sister-in-law's father to clean and repair. I want it to last. I don't want a house only full of new matching furniture that looks good on the outside but has no soul. I want stuff that has roots.

Possession #10 - Rocking Chair

We put a lot of miles on that rocker when our kids were born. Now I sit in it because it's the only chair that gives enough support to my lower back pain. How come we sit in rockers when we're very young and very (O.K., well sort of) old? You definitely can't have too many rocking chairs!

The only thing that might be better than a rocking chair is "old" Eric Clapton singing about rocking chairs. Enjoy!

Possession #9 - Red Couch

I’m not quite sure if this is a couch, sofa, settee, ottoman (wasn't that an empire?) or a divan; but we bought it because it lends itself to curling up inside while reading or watching television. Which reminds me......Apparently, the term “couch potato” can be traced precisely to July 15, 1976 and to a person – Tom Lacino, who registered the term as a trademark a few years later. He was a part of a humor group that was satirizing the diet and exercise fads in California. Why a potato? Apparently, the logic goes like this: Television…Boob tube…tuber…potato! More than you wanted to know?

Let’s redeem the day by reflecting on our possessions with a couple of timely quotes by Martin Luther King Jr., who’s life we are remembering today:

“Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being. It is part of the earth man walks on. It is not man.“

“We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'person-oriented' society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

Possession #8 - Futon

Several years ago we bought a futon because we decided to stop torturing our house guests with a diabolical device known as a hide-a-bed. However, any way you look at it, sleeping in someone's living room is a rather awkward proposition. I'm sure that there's been quite an evolution of what people do and don't do in their living rooms. When I was a kid, we had a room called a "den" which was used for most of the activities that I do in my living room today. And nobody has a parlor any more. If you want to read a little essay about living rooms take look here.

The best thing about a futon is that it has a single mattress instead of several cushions which eliminates its ability to suck popcorn, coins and tiny children into the recesses of its inner parts. It's also good on my back.

Possession #7 - La-Z-Boy Chair

What says "middle-age" more than a La-Z-Boy! I got mine when I was recovering from fairly serious surgery a few years ago. Short of having your own mother come and personally bring you a bowl of hot chicken soup, a La-Z-Boy is the apex of recovery furniture. These chairs were created by two cousins - Edward M. Knabusch and Edwin J. Shoemaker - in 1928. They said that they wanted to design a chair for what they called, "nature’s way of relaxing." Now that I've developed a middle-aged creaky back, the right chair has become much more of a priority than when I could easily contort my body into just about any form.

Isn't it true that in a brief period of time, certain chairs become the exclusive "property" of particular family members - "...that's Dad's chair!" Like unconsciously claiming the same pew every Sunday and sitting in the same formation around the dinner table, chairs, in particular, show that we are creatures of habit. This, then, becomes just one more reason why disposing of old furniture becomes difficult...habits die hard. Our possessions represent years of ingrained habits. Removing a possession disrupts the habits.

Possession #6 - The Flagship Niagara

Continuing on my theme of rather miscellaneous stuff around the house, here's a medallion of the flagship Niagara which was given to us by friends when we moved from Erie, Pennsylvania. This and other similar objects we own remind us of friendships and places. My guess is that this is the kind of "priceless" stuff that people really miss when they lose their homes.

I noticed today that Merriam-Webster’s first definition of “possession” is: “the act of having or taking into control.” Is that why it’s so hard to let go of our stuff…it’s a matter of losing control? What kind of control do we gain through our possessions? What's hardest to let go of? Maybe for me, some of these possessions tell me who I am - they tell something of my life story and so they give meaning to my life. I'd hate to let go of that.

Possession #5 - Top Dresser Drawer

Come on...I can't be the only person who has a dresser drawer devoted to a pile of stuff...stuff that I just can't get rid of - a macaroni and cheese watch? Charlie Brown Pumpkin Carols? My old Dr. Schnickenschnauser nametag? My Boy Scout camping compass?

If you had to leave your house immediately and could only bring 15 things with you, what would they be? Would they be practical things? - cooking pots and extra sweaters? Or would you bring memories? - Dried prom flowers and photographs?

Possession #4 - Kitchen Kitch Shelf

Seems like this week I'm focusing on little stuff...the hoards of possessions that accumulate seemingly on their own. A couple days ago...the kitchen junk drawer. Today...the shelf above the sink. Maybe one reason we can't get rid of stuff is that a lot of it is attached to a story. The "I love NY" pig?...Jean grew up in New York. the "whatever" mug?...Megan's favorite response to any question. The miniature milk can salt and pepper shakers?...from Jean's childhood. The Clarinet mouthpiece?...from my Junior High band. The scary ceramic face?...Nick's 5th grade art project. You get the idea. We can't get rid of this stuff because there's meaning attached to every item. At least it doesn't look like Liberace's collection of stuff which you can view HERE.

Possession #3 - My glasses

Sometimes it gets pretty hard to separate what I NEED from what I WANT. However, I pretty much need my glasses...don't I? Do I need the spring-loaded hinges on them? The scratch-resistant extra-thin lightweight plastic lenses? The stylish look? (OK...my kids say that's a matter of opinion) It seems like everything associated with making judgments about our stuff gets pretty murky, not least because of deeply buried inner stuff like cultural expectations, societal and class norms and...oh yes... that thing.....ego...yeah.

If you've never seen it, George Carlin's classic routine about "stuff" is a must! Humor has a way of cutting through some of the inner sludge.

Possession #2 - Junk Drawer

I know you all have one of these...a junk drawer. This is the current contents of our kitchen junk drawer (minus the drawer). The collection of keys that don't open anything up anymore. Spare batteries. Eyeglass repair kits. Lot's of tape (we just finished Christmas gift wrapping season). Ping pong ball - what? Don't even ask why there are more than one noseflute in our drawer. This drawer accumulates all the stuff that doesn't neatly fit into a category - utensil, game, cooking equipment, store receipts, etc...

Doesn't it seem true that our stuff tends to accumulate into little groupings around our homes. Like dust-bunnies, possessions that are similar cling to each other forming larger and larger piles until simply having a pile of something seems to justify adding just one more to it. But there's always the odd item that doesn't fit anywhere but seems necessary to the household operation. By the way, I already see that one of the issues of this project is that I can't possibly (reasonably?) photograph ever single object that I possess (individual noodles?). So there will be times I will make the decision to photograph groups of objects. And especially since the items in my junk drawer already have some amount of rejection anxiety, I've kept them all together.

Possession #1 - Camera

Maybe it's because we just got through Christmas. Maybe it's because I'm a new "empty-nester" and I've been rattling around the house. But, I've been thinking more and more about all the stuff I have and my relationship to it. But there's so much stuff! So, to get a better idea of all the things I possess, I decided to try a project in which I"m going to take pictures of all my stuff and post them every day (or at least every day that I can remember to do it). I'm hoping that the act of visually putting everything I own into one big pile will help me get a better handle on where all this stuff came from and what it all means to me.

Today, I'm starting with my primary tool for piling all this stuff together - my camera. I must admit, a part of the motivation for this project came out of a desire to find photo subjects during the winter in my house. Also, I know I'm not the first person to think of doing something like this. I'm just curious to see how it goes. The Camera, by the way, is a Nikon D5000 with a new 35mm lens. In addition to simply finding a way to gather all my possessions in one place, I want there to be some amount of artistic merit to the whole project...I want the stuff to look good!

Here goes!