Months ago my dad and I came across this poem written by comedian George Carlin that was in an exhibit catalogue for the Rachel Perry Welty exhibit at deCordova Museum in MA. I’d be curious how you feel about his statement. This is just an excerpt from a longer piece.
By George Carlin:
So stuff is important.
You gotta take care of your stuff.
You gotta have a place for your stuff.
Everybody’s gotta have a place for their stuff.
That’s what life is all about, tryin’ to find a
place for your stuff!
That’s what your house is: a place to
keep your stuff.
If you didn’t have so much stuff,
you wouldn’t need a house.
You could just walk around all the time…
I do not totally agree with George Carlin. True, a house can be a receptacle for stuff, but a home creates memories and life-long relationships, some positive, some negative. Nevertheless, relating to other people and not to stuff, is what living in a home environment is about. Sometimes the “stuff” in a house can help a person to preserve and evoke loving memories fo what went on in the home. Photographs can do this and so can other objects such as dishes which were used to serve family and holiday meals. When the “stuff” becomes more meaningful than the memories, or overtakes our lives we begin to worry and re-evaluate our priorities. I think Carlin’s comments are too wide-sweeping.
JMK, thank you for sharing your perspective of this quote.