I got this week's idea from a colleague of mine, and though I didn't get her reason why she came up with this in particular, I will venture to say that she meant life is too short to worry about something that won't keep us from falling apart ourselves. So why bother fretting over something that is replaceable? There is a deep connection people have to objects. Many people have great emotional ties to dishes, in particular. To be even more specific, many find deep meaning in plates because that is what they used for a special, pivotal event in their lives. They ate meals on their special plates when they had their parents over for dinner to announce a new pregnancy, or they ate off of their special plates because they joined together to comfort one another after the funeral of a loved one who died.
For whatever reason dishes are held in high regard to people, there is one underlying norm: identity and internal value is found in them. I had a set of blue plates that I bought myself and stored away a long time ago for when the day would come when I would live on my own. Since blue is my favorite color, the plates obviously spoke to me. The pattern was simple yet trendy, kind of like my own style and personality. I felt those plates really spoke of who I was and it somehow gave me some purpose and internal value because of what they represented to me. They were a symbol of freedom to come. Understandable enough, right? Of course. I was the one who picked them out, nobody else. I didn't have to check with anyone for approval. It was all me. It was fun. I looked at them many times over and just dreamed of me and my plates and the life we would have together someday.
When I finally did get my own place, the plates made their home in the cabinet. And that was it. It's not that I didn't like them anymore because I truly did, but they became a PART of something I had made for my life. THEY didn't make my life. They simply became a lovely thing upon which to eat food with people I loved. That's all. I don't even have those plates anymore, and I'm not really sure what happened to the whole set! I just know that they alone had no value, but what I did with them brought the meaning to my life - the experiences of sharing food and time with others.
I didn't pay a lot for them, I don't see the point in doing that. If one chooses to pay a lot for plates, I hope one understands that the value is not in the plates themselves, but for the reason they were made: holding food while you make those important connections with other human beings.
NEXT WEEK: How long your life will be
