My stuff is broken and I don’t like it.
About two years ago I was enjoying a wonderful glass of Cabernet as my wife and I planned our first major RV trip. And I can still remember that second when the glass was falling over. My computer’s life flashed before my eyes. A half-full glass of fine wine landed smack into my computer. I let out what felt like a scream and turned the computer over. Wine poured out in ridiculous red raindrops. It was now toast.
The only cool part of that was that I got to get new stuff. Within a week my brand new MacBook Pro (I’ve been a user for 25 years) sat comfortably in my lap. It was awesome. And to be honest, it wasn’t really a better computer in a light-years kind of way. It had a few better features like the built in camera and the remote that I never used. But what it came down to is that it looked newer.
Well flash forward to today. I’m sitting here listening to some music and the screen portion of my “new” laptop keep falling just enough backwards that it’s not the right angle. The hinge in the laptop is no longer sticking the way it should. It’s a little thing but it keeps bugging me. I know it’s not working the way its supposed to. I actually use my laptop all day for work so its not really a little thing, even though it is.
And this is the thing. My stuff is broken. And I want to go out today and buy a new one. And as I thought about this temptation I realized began to ask why I needed a new computer. Why the urge to go out and buy something I really didn’t need. I wanted it.
Something is fueling the tension within consumerism. Something is driving it. The issue is deeper than just being spoiled. It’s deeper than the media’s constant saturation. Advertising works. I should know. I was in it for a long time. But something else has to be at play to make all these forces come together.
And then I realized that my computer reminds me of my own brokenness. I don’t like that. My stuff is broken and I want stuff that isn’t broken. I want stuff that works.
Thank You Father for loving me in spite of my brokenness.
Listening to: Fix You by Coldplay
Yes, this temptation is constant- there appears to be a pervasive myth that consumer society has been bewitched by: the myth of ownership.
I love to read, so it is incredibly easy for me to stock up on books.
“Amazon has free shipping, after all! But I must add just another one or two books to my shopping cart to qualify! But look, I can buy used books and not keep the consumption cycle moving along… hey, for only $3 more I can get a brand new copy without the unsightly wrinkles and creases. Just add $3.99 for shipping and now we are talking! But wait, with Amazon’s free shipping the price is exactly the same, and now I am back where I started!”
A story:
A good friend of mine constantly struggles to not possess a beautiful flower outside her apartment. The flower is a rose and is colored like a tropical sunset. There is no reason that this particular rose should be growing where it is growing; there are no other rosebushes nearby and nevermind another bloom springing out of this rogue bush.
A few times while I was walking with her she almost could not contain herself to cut the flower from its roots, its means to grow, its sustenance, and introduce it to a vase with water to replace its natural provider of nourishment. In doing so she would possess the flower and admire it for herself every day but only for a time; the flower would begin its life inside a foregone conclusion, aging and losing its petals quickly, perhaps for a time blooming into its full passion and beauty but then dying the death of a martyr and leaving only a shadow of its former glory, a hint at its lost beauty, a question that asks “What was here that this skeleton should be enshrined?”
“….when you get what you want but not what you need…” What a great song by the 2nd greatest band on the planet…IMHO. I got to perform this song at my last “gig”…full band, changing light scenes, 1800 people….it was a moving experience. We definitely need to be fixed, but stuff won’t do it. I have tried that, too. I love how the writers bring this around in the second verse: “if you never try you’ll never know just what you’re worth.” It wasn’t until I tried to discover my true worth that I discovered I actually can exist without all the stuff I thought I needed. So, I’m happy as a clam in my ’93 Miata with 150k miles, many a dent and scratch and distorted speakers….cruising down the road, singing at the top of my lungs..”…I promise you I will learn from my mistakes..”
Thanks, bro…
Storm – that’s a really cool story. We love beauty but we’re pretty good at destroying it when we try and possess it.
Monachus – That song is quickly becoming one of my all time favorites. Chris actually wrote that song for Gwenyth when her dad died, if you didn’t know.
I know these thoughts very well, I agree it’s more than being effected by advertising, its something in the heart of the west that has to be confronted personally and repeatedly.
good post.
Some say he wrote that tune for Gwenyth, but it’s a little known fact that the real reason he wrote it was for the National Veterinarians Association “Spay and Neuter Your Pet” drive for 2006…. 😉
Storm, I didn’t know that was you. Nice to see your face.
Dave, I’m laughing at that one, and I’m not sure I should. 😉
Thanks Ben.