Aquistitions & Mergers

I've been watching the squirrels preparing for winter. They spend their days gathering and stashing, discovering this or that nut and taking it home or burying it. It's a survival strategy, long term squirrel thinking. They collect what they need and at winter's end it will be used up and gone. Squirrels seem to care about only those possessions with essential value.

Humans collect as if a lifetime could be measured or appraised by aquisitions. At a recent estate sale I found myself wondering exactly how many sets of china can one family use, exactly how many jewels can one woman wear, how many Tiffany bowls does it take to be satisfied. And why. Why do we seem to need so many things? We come into the world with nothing, we take nothing when we leave, but in between we seem to need to be surrounded by material things as if they will weld us to life. As if the higher the price, the stronger the weld.

I have a weakness for table linens. I have several drawers full of placemats and napkins, most with the price tags still on. I haven't used any of them in years and am mystified by own inability to give them away. Do I unconsciously hope for a third marriage and keep them just in case I should inherit stepchildren? Other high risk items include but are not limited to earrings, handbags and greeting cards, nothing outrageously expensive in and of itself but things do tend to add up over a month's billing cycle of my Visa card.

We are all drawn to things in one way or another - for status or security or comfort or to leave to our children. Whatever the reason, they're still just things. As my friend Jim used to say, I don't want to be rich, I just want the trappings. Don't we all.