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Giulietta
Helping others find their true genius.
Challenger of assumptions. A believer in speaking one's truth. Karaoke queen. Essayist. Pianist. Painter. Explorette. Lover of animals, trees, travel, dark chocolate, Torch music and lending others a helping hand or two ... ...
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Modern Potlatch

Giulietta

Friday, March, 28, 2008
I studied Anthropology in college. It married my love of people, culture, and geography. Some of the most interesting indigenous populations we studied lived along the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. That’s when I first heard the term “potlatch,” a type of feast. During these feasts, the host family gave away as much of their wealth as they could. People derived status not from how much they had, but from how much they gave away.

Do you ever feel trapped by your growing stash of material things? Perhaps feel like they strap you down to a lifestyle that keeps you indentured to your credit card company instead of to a life of adventure?

The whole notion of protecting material things feels increasingly burdensome to me. Take a new car for example. The worst thing about a new car is that you now need to worry about it 24/7. Worry that someone is going to steal it or something is going to dent it. I’ve often joked to friends with new cars that they should pick up a rock, step back ten feet and hurl it at the car to get the dent over with, so they can focus their energy on more important things.

I stopped buying new cars back in 1990. That year I bought a brand new Toyota Celica and proudly parked it in a parking garage. Eight hours later I returned to a scarred car. Someone trying to send me some kind of message took a key and dragged it all over the left side of the car, including the hood and roof.

What frightened me the most wasn’t the angry key artist, it was my own reaction: I almost had a nervous breakdown right there on level 4, crying and carrying on inside my scarred car. Since that incident I’ve figured out that the real scars weren’t on the outside of my car, they were on the inside of me for being so attached to a hunk of plastic and metal. Been trying to heal them ever since.

A few days ago during this fierce, whipping wind, I came out of the supermarket to find a shopping cart smooching my driver’s side door. I pulled the two inanimate lovers apart and sure enough the remnants of their lovemaking smiled back at me in the form of a gigantic dent.

My reaction this time? Potlatch anyone?

Muse thx

Giulietta

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Shoegirl1970
Shoegirl1970
Amen!
Posted Fri, 03/28/2008 - 15:29
What a wonderful post! I tell my husband I want quit my job to write full time and he tells me I can, but first we have to sell the house and give up some things.... Why is it that a choice that should be so easy is so hard at the same time?
Giulietta
Giulietta
Making Choices
Posted Fri, 03/28/2008 - 16:58
Hi again Shoegirl! I think such a choice is hard because we derive so much -- actually too much -- of our self worth from things. The ultimate irony is that all these things we collect and protect and work at jobs we don't like to pay for, will get sold at a yard sale for peanuts or fought over by relatives upon our passing. Maybe though you can do both or at least keep the house and trim back on some other "stuff" while you make this very kewl job switcherino. In my last "wrap-up" post on Monday I will try and address this ... Thanks so much for the great comment! G.
alison skirtboston
alison skirtboston
separated at birth
Posted Sat, 03/29/2008 - 10:04
You've done it again: your blog has addressed exactly the things I've been thinking about. Thank you! We have two damaged cars right now and the situation makes me think of how uniform people have become, particularly in my little corner of Stepford suburbia.. if the rear taillight of my mini van weren't shattered, I'd still be wandering up and down the aisles of the supermarket parking lot, trying to find the car that fits my key.. but a "perfect" car is just one part of the twisted equation that has so many people putting aside the things they like to do in order to have a "perfect" house and "perfect" life. Yuck! What's interesting or memorable about that?? Drop me a line -- I want you to keep blogging on boston.skirt.com if possible! Alison
Giulietta
Giulietta
Damaged Cars
Posted Sun, 03/30/2008 - 10:38
Hi Alison, Thank you for all your comments during TMOBD! They've been great. Good to know that my words have an impact. Funny (or not so funny) about only being able to find your car because it's damaged. It's such a sea of sameness out there. Easy to get lost because everything looks the same block after block after block after ... G.