The Stuff's Not Important
By Shariq Ansari

Lars Eighner contends that almost all of us delude ourselves with objects we 
grasp.  Through his experiences as a "scavenger," he has learned that just as 
our material goods are not immortal, neither are the ideas we associate with 
them.  He implies that when people cast away their objects, they cast away the 
ideas and memories coupled to them.

I am not a person who collects lots of things, but the few objects I have are 
important to me.  I do collect comic books, but I don't collect them for their 
material worth, so that I can say that I own the first issue of the new Batgirl 
series (which I do); I collect comic books so that I can read them, so that I 
can enrich myself with the ideas that the writers present and enjoy the stories 
that are told.  While my comic books don't hold any sentimental value for me, I 
do take care of them by putting them in places where they will not be damaged, 
because I've spent money on them, and I'm taking care of my investment.

Other than my comics, I don't have many other material goods.  The things that 
are truly important to me are my experiences with people.  I was in my high 
school music program for four years, and I can remember every single fantastic 
moment I experienced, from our concerts to our band trips, our rehearsals to our 
performances in Giant's Stadium.

In all my four years in the band, I never bought a band jacket, or a 
commemorative t-shirt.  I realized that I didn't need the "stuff" to remind me 
of the good times.  Everything that is worth remembering will stay in my mind 
until the day I die. Whenever I want to relive those memories, I don't pick up 
my trumpet and stare into space, reminiscing about days gone by; I get up and go 
back to my old school and help the kids in the band make wonderful memories by 
teaching them how to march, how to play, and most importantly, how to live!  
This is what is important to me:  having the experiences, not having the stuff, 
because the stuff isn't really important.

I am a person who believes that the time we, as people, have on this world is 
short, and therefore we should not spend our time amassing great heaps of 
trinkets and treasures.  Rather, we should spend our time doing something 
worthwhile, doing something so great that we will never need to buy the 
commemorative t-shirts.

As Lars Eighner implies, when we cast away our objects, we cast away the 
memories and experiences associated with them.  But if our memories are not 
grafted onto our material goods, then it will be much easier to keep them in 
mind, and if we do have material goods, they should not remind us of our 
experiences; rather, they should help in creating them.