Another candidate

Talking at Philorum last night about living a good life and "wanting what you have" and materialism, another candidate for defining the self occurred to me - the doctrine that "I am my stuff." I have probably had big moments of believing this. I am a collector, you know. I have been my record collection. When I got dumped and moved, I was all the detritus of the relationship that I was sentimentally clinging to, like the Jag (btw, if you're interested in a 1971 XJ6 Series 1 with a Series 2 engine, leave a comment here and I'll get in touch!).

So, "I am my stuff" could be "I am what I collect," or it could be "I am the designer labels I wear." I had a sad trip recently to the floor at David Jones where all the Alessi stuff is, moping past all of it and thinking, "I will never have any of you. I will amount to nothing. My life is over." (Feeling sorry for myself because discretionary cash is a bit constrained at the moment.) So, yes, I have probably had moments of defining myself as my stuff.

Besides the typical knee-jerk anti-materialist hippy arguments against this, the potential problems are vulnerability, because while you can take your values and your knowledge around with you in your head, stuff can sometimes be harmed. And just having a place to put it all! (Jag = $220 per month for the storage garage)