The Value of Material Goods

The three most important things in my life, the things that have the most value to me, are my necklace and my two bracelets. All three were bought cheaply.

The necklace's story can be found here. As for the bracelets...

I have a new friend. I'll call her Macarra because she likes that name. Her family isn't exactly wealthy, but they're well off enough. The main thing we have in common is music. I was fairly lucky as far as music goes. I got to take piano lessons, I grew up on the piano... However, Macarra did not. She always wanted a piano, but only had a small, cheap keyboard. We met in band class; we're both flute players. We only met at the beginning of this year.

At some point, in band, she picked up my arm and slipped two bracelets onto my wrist: one silvery with a simple, repetitive design cut into it, and one black with glitter.

We had talked about her many bracelets before. There was one day at the library, she told me the story of her special one, and about how she got the rest in a set, but she refused to tell me how she got them. As for the special one, she saw it laying by a door as she was going to jazz band after school (before I joined). After band, it was still there, but she still left it there. The next morning, she woke up with it on her wrist.

One day, I went to Wal*Mart. I was looking for a keychain and I saw sets of bracelets in various colors, and some were the same as hers.

I can see why she was ashamed. She didn't want to look poor. But what I've never told her is that I know where she got the bracelets, and that I don't mind. One of my beliefs about material things is that if you care about it, it gains value seperate from monetary value. For instance, my laptop was good, but relatively cheap. It wouldn't sell for much. But it's precious. It holds my files, it's my portal to the rest of the world. It's the gateway to information. For me, it's priceless. For someone else, it's maybe $500.

My point is, monetary value is nowhere near as imporrtant as emotional significance. Once you care about something, it seems to come to life in your heart, and it matters to you, even if no one else gives a damn.