Author Topic: Joy in possessions (Read 4061 times)

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #25 on:** 13 November, 2019, 09:16:21 am »

Quote from: fuzzy (retd.) AAGE on 12 November, 2019, 10:48:10 pm

I have very few, if any, posessions that give me joy. A small handful of analogue books that I read repeatedly over the years (having the same books as Kindle editions wouldn't give the same enjoyment), a couple of albums (vinyl and CD's). In both these cases the output of the object is what brings the joy and being able to experience that joy at a time of my choosing means the physical object alo brings that joy.

Otherwise, it is the product of some of my possessions that is joyful- an image from my camera that captures exactly what I wanted to show- viewing something I have not seen before through my telescope eyepiece.

Clothes might make me happy- putting on a comfortable pair of jeans or boots. Not joy though.

Fuzzy makes two valuable distinctions: between a possession and its outputs and between joy and happiness.

perpetual dan · « **Reply #26 on:** 13 November, 2019, 09:41:43 am »

I like clothes. I don't buy loads, and wear jeans and t shirt to work most days, but I like what I have. I've got a nice suit that I barely wear but is lovely, and several things my partner had sewn or knitted.

Music I also love, but despite having several *cough* CDs it's more about the hearing.

My camera and bikes give me a lot of pleasure, but I know I'll replace them at some point.

My memory isnt great so photos, letters, trip diaries, maps and random bits and bobs associated with good times are things I really value, and occasionally get great pleasure from finding again and helping me recall.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Pedal Castro · « **Reply #27 on:** 13 November, 2019, 09:51:28 am »

I tend to buy stuff I need and keep it until it wears out when I may buy a replacement. I have some stuff I keep even though I never use simply because of the memories attached, for example a tiny plastic joint of meat that is the only remaining part of the toy wildlife ranger set my parents gave me as a gift for getting promoted from the D stream to the A stream in Junior school aged 7.

ian · « **Reply #28 on:** 13 November, 2019, 09:58:20 am »

Truthfully, I think I could lose all my possessions and not be bothered, they're just things. That might have part due to a peripatetic existence in younger life, I suppose, where everything was either disposable or fitted into a large suitcase. OK, l like my collection of fluffy mustelids who co-habit the remote command centre, but that's about it.

Data, that most ephemeral possession, gives me joy of course. The photos, the songs, the terrible mostly written novels, all that jazz (but not actual jazz, remember kids – jazz is wrong). I am, I fear, a creature of the modern age.

Ham · « **Reply #29 on:** 13 November, 2019, 10:04:35 am »

In a way, I actually get joy from shedding stuff, especially sometimes things which I once ascribed value to. A curious lightness of being. that's a one-off hit, though, for obvious reasons. Moving on is a joy in itself, whether in life or on a bike.

It is also true that you don't have to own something for it to give you joy.

T42 · « **Reply #30 on:** 13 November, 2019, 10:55:33 am »

When we moved here in 1989 all my tools except the Workmate went into a 150cm x 30 x 30 box. Nowadays I have trouble fitting new stuff into a 36m² workshop, and the aforesaid box serves as hop-up behind one of my benches.

I confess that I take enormous pleasure from standing up there and looking at everything.

andytheflyer · « **Reply #31 on:** 13 November, 2019, 12:58:00 pm »

Being a tool junkie, I am joyful in using some of them, particularly my late dad's planes, and even his motley collection of small metric spanners. They were his, he used them, and now so can I.

But real joyfulness comes from my two saxophones. The alto I bought new, so every scuff, every tweak and every note it's uttered has been down to me. It gives me joy when I get my fingers and mouth around something new and tricky (for me) and even more when I make its sound like a saxophone.

And then there's my tenor sax. I bought it secondhand, and I'm only the 2nd owner. But it's immaculate and of good quality. I bought it from the first owner, and saw it in his home when I went to look at it. I know its provenance, and now I'm getting better at the tenor it sounds gorgeous (to me).

Both saxes are works of art, in their mechanisms, their engineering, their attention to detail, and the sound they make. Things of beauty are joys forever, I'm told.

De Sisti · « **Reply #32 on:** 13 November, 2019, 01:35:58 pm »

I have a few pairs of decent shoes* that I wear in total comfort, able to move my
toes around and not having any part of my feet being pinched by the leather uppers.

*Find a pair like that, then buy another and another. Your feet will thank you for it
over the years.

pumpkin · « **Reply #33 on:** 14 November, 2019, 01:42:52 pm »

Clothes, shoes, ties,cufflinks etc. i could witter on for hours about them and if funds permitted I would prob live on Savile Row or be a regular in the Milanese tailors. Luckily I dont have the money to indulge and sadly I now dont go anywhere to display this finery. A film like Kingsman and the lovely apparel in the film always delights me. watches and pens I enjoy. But really its just stuff and it all gets forgotten about when my daughter or wife are ill or just need help. I would like a job where I could use the stuff mentioned. I have some lovely bikes but not enough time to ride them.

Ham · « **Reply #34 on:** 17 November, 2019, 06:51:04 pm »

Right on cue, I went past....

You may need to embiggen to read the text over the door

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #35 on:** 17 November, 2019, 07:18:43 pm »

pumpkin · « **Reply #36 on:** 25 November, 2019, 03:35:28 pm »

love the German konditor but not sure about the Auschwitz reference (at least they didn't put it in German). Not cheap so wouldnt be stopping off there when on the bike

https://konditor.co.uk/shop-products/shop-by-products/desserts.html

spesh · « **Reply #37 on:** 25 November, 2019, 03:52:05 pm »

Quote from: pumpkin on 25 November, 2019, 03:35:28 pm

love the German konditor but not sure about the Auschwitz reference (at least they didn't put it in German). Not cheap so wouldnt be stopping off there when on the bike

https://konditor.co.uk/shop-products/shop-by-products/desserts.html

Auschwitz and other concentration camps had "Arbeit macht frei" (work sets you free) above their gates.

I'd say that "Joy through cake" sounds like a subversion of "Strength through Joy", which was the tourism and leisure wing of the Nazi-era German Labour Front.

Jakob W · « **Reply #38 on:** 25 November, 2019, 05:48:05 pm »

I reckon #FreudedurchKuchen actually sounds less ominous in the German; echoes of Schiller rather than anything else.

Bolt · « **Reply #39 on:** 26 November, 2019, 12:18:03 am »

I have a draw full of harmonicas that I don't play as often as I used to, but it's always a joy to open this draw of delights and to play a little, remembering Steinbecks' thoughts on this humble instrument from "The Grapes of Wrath".

“A harmonica is easy to carry. Take it out of your hip pocket. Knock it against your palm to shake out the dirt and pocket fuzz and bits of tobacco. Now it’s ready. You can do anything with a harmonica: thin reedy single tone or chords, or melody with rhythm chords. You can mold the music with curved hands, making it wail and cry like bagpipes, making it full and round like an organ, making it as sharp and bitter as the reed pipes of the hills. And you play and put it back into your pocket. It’s always with you.”

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #40 on:** 26 November, 2019, 08:27:47 am »

There's a lot to be said for music that's always with you.

Jurek · « **Reply #41 on:** 27 November, 2019, 08:51:08 pm »

Quote from: AwfulQuiet on 27 November, 2019, 08:45:56 pm

Personally, "possessions" do not bring me joy. Accomplishment and self improvement do.

Comfort shopping doesn't do it for me.
One day I'll learn.
Experiences do.
Is that the same?

rogerzilla · « **Reply #42 on:** 27 November, 2019, 09:02:17 pm »

Bikes? N+1.

Jurek · « **Reply #43 on:** 27 November, 2019, 09:05:21 pm »

About that >< much.

I confess to having lost my Mojo

Help!

ian · « **Reply #44 on:** 27 November, 2019, 09:10:16 pm »

I built a robot and instructed it to bring me joy.

That proved to be a mistake.

spesh · « **Reply #45 on:** 27 November, 2019, 09:15:48 pm »

I take that Joy was not best pleased at being abducted by a robot, then?

Wowbagger · « **Reply #46 on:** 27 November, 2019, 09:16:32 pm »

She was quite glad she was unconfined.

spesh · « **Reply #47 on:** 27 November, 2019, 09:20:17 pm »

Blodwyn Pig · « **Reply #48 on:** 28 November, 2019, 06:13:22 pm »

Possessions I revel in, in order of importance,

Olive, 22,000km ish now, owned for about 3 years, love every ride.

Wallace, my 21 yo Land Rover 110,, owned it for 14 years. nearly 200k, Loves it , I does.

Pamplemousse, our 43 year old VW camper, owned 18 years. been to Italy and back in it, we have.

Items of clothing less so. I tend to revel in things that have worked forever , and continue to work, and things that I either get for free, or absolute bargain. I get no pleasure in going out and buying something nice for myself, much to swmbo's annoyance. eg, I blagged a Gore windstopper top, either on here, or ctc forum?, going free, for the cost of postage. What a brilliant bit of kit, I've worn it every day since i got it. I loves it! Wouldn't give you tuppence for Rapha stuff, (unless it was free

)

In fact, I been thinking a lot recently, and trying to work out, WHAT , if anything i actually want, that I haven't already got. The answer is really only one thing that I can think of,and that's not a definite, but it would be N + 1, in the form of a Veleotechnik Street Machine GTE !!