{"id":656,"date":"2009-06-17T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-06-17T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onecity\/2009\/06\/you-are-not-your-khakis-1.html"},"modified":"2009-06-17T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-06-17T07:00:00","slug":"you-are-not-your-khakis-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/06\/you-are-not-your-khakis-1.html","title":{"rendered":"You are not your khakis"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m on vacation this week – here is one of my favorites previously published on our old blog site<\/a>: <\/p>\n

\n“I’m
\nbreaking my attachment to physical power and possessions because only
\nthrough destroying myself can I discover the greater power of my spirit”<\/em> ~Tyler Durden – Fight Club<\/p>\n

While I chastise myself not being more imaginative
\nthan quoting Fight Club, when I am feeling very anti-materialistic or
\nanti-consumer culture, it is quotes from the book\/movie that always pop
\ninto my mind. But I do love the irony that Fight Club rails against
\nconsumerism, material goods, and promotes the destruction of the self
\nand yet manages to inspire the opposite in the legions of fans who buy
\nthings in order to express that Fight Club somehow represents who they
\nare. And it is this push away and pull towards objects that I want to
\naddress.<\/p>\n

While we may rail against consumerism,
\nsometimes we are just pulled to certain material things. They bring us
\njoy and excitement.  Aaron C. Ahuvia argues in his article, Beyond the Extended Self: Loved Objects and Consumers’ Identity Narratives<\/em><\/a>,
\nthat some “loved” objects that we own help us create a coherent story
\nof ourselves. Loved objects and activities help to structure our social
\nrelationships and support our well-being. Objects can tell stories. They can hold family
\nhistories. They can represent friendships and symbolize marriages. They
\nrecreate our culture. We pass them down from generation to generation.<\/p>\n

I can find beauty and love embedded in objects
\n– from amazing works of art to my father’s neckties. However I have a
\nhard time putting my finger on the point when this craving for objects
\ngoes from meaningful storytelling, family heirlooms, or culture
\nregeneration to excessive disposable waste. When do objects become
\ndisposable? When do they go from loved items to just the latest fashion
\ntrend?<\/p>\n

I know people who love shoes. I mean really love
\nshoes. To them, they are loved objects of intense personal meaning.
\nThey tell a story (“I bought those shoes for a party in the Spring of
\n1986 at a wonderful store in Paris”). They can’t be replaced. They are
\nseen as works of art and beauty. But how long will they last? How many
\npairs of shoes can you love? How many resources did they use up? Are
\nyou really your shoes?<\/p>\n

Do we truly work towards giving up all material
\nobjects in our lives? Do we learn to no longer express our “selves”
\nthrough material objects? Do we give up the history and meanings that
\narise from objects as well as the meanings are embedded onto them by
\nour minds and collective culture? What would that look like?<\/p>\n

“The liberator who destroys my property, is
\nfighting to save my spirit. The teacher who clears all possessions from
\nmy path will set me free.”<\/em> ~Tyler Durden, Fight Club\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m on vacation this week – here is one of my favorites previously published on our old blog site: “I’m breaking my attachment to physical power and possessions because only through destroying myself can I discover the greater power of my spirit” ~Tyler Durden – Fight Club While I chastise myself not being more imaginative…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-right-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"\nYou are not your khakis - One City<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/06\/you-are-not-your-khakis-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You are not your khakis - One City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’m on vacation this week – here is one of my favorites previously published on our old blog site: “I’m breaking my attachment to physical power and possessions because only through destroying myself can I discover the greater power of my spirit” ~Tyler Durden – Fight Club While I chastise myself not being more imaginative…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/06\/you-are-not-your-khakis-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"One City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-06-17T07:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kirsten Firminger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"You are not your khakis - One City","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/06\/you-are-not-your-khakis-1.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"You are not your khakis - 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