Negative Side Of Self Storage

1147 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of consumerism and materialism

Peace Pilgrim once stated, “Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens. If you have them, you have to take care of them. There is great freedom in simplicity of living. It is those who have enough but no too much who are the happiest”. In today’s society, there are individuals who consider themselves materialists, prideful, rich and others not that wealthy. However, material possessions are one of the most unnecessary items that Americans people have, which sometimes could be a critical aspect that defines their identity. In fact, many people who experience such dilemma, have particularly rented self-storage room, which helps them to accumulate and save all their valuable possessions. In the article “The Self-Storage,” by Jon Moallem, …show more content…

As living in a world full of surprises, each individual will encounter difficult times in which he/she might want to give up because of not having a solution in their hands. But the only help that a person could have when he/she is experiencing difficult times of their life is a grain of hope. Hope and faith that things will get better and that better times will come. This is illustrated in the article The Self-Storage Self: “After her husband left to serve in Iraq, she couldn’t afford the rent on her house in Oakland. So she locked everything but her clothes and school books in storage” (Mooallem 107). This tells readers, that storage room not only allows people to save material items inside of a room but also, permits others to have a place where to put their personal belonging when he/she might have to sell his/her house. Because of this, storage room being a place of hope strengthen Moallem’s point of view of what defines Americans identity.
Overall, self-storage facilities could be categorized as the number one identical symbolization of the American society. Its representation is more than a cultural mythology, which allows an individual to save valuable items and provide them with a piece of hope in difficult moments of their lives. As the years continue to pass, storage room will always be a cultural aspect that defines and shapes American’s identity. As a society, each individual must learn how to take advantage of all storage room and not misuse them by over accumulating unnecessary items that perhaps, could affect them

Show More
Related

  • Morality In Thoreau's Walden

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the modern world, people posses more than what they can actually keep tract of physically and mentally. Everyone wants to live the “good life” where they can have no limits to the things they want. Whether it is clothes, cars, jewelry, or houses, the need to buy things that are affordable and are in style preoccupies the minds of many people. The argument for necessity goes against this way of modern living, but agrees with Thoreau's view on it. The argument is that people should have enough of each just ...

    Read More

  • Eighner Style Analysis

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is of no surprise to anyone that people in general, particularly Americans, tend to be overly-enticed by materialistic things and ridiculous ideals, placing more emphasis on them than things of sentiment. In “On Dumpster Diving,” author Lars Eighner develops on his experiences as a homeless man not in an attempt to defend the art of Dumpster diving, but instead to build upon the idea that a majority of people spend too much time and money on things that will not matter in a few years—they should instead focus on things that will never lose their value. Throughout the essay, he is attempting to persuade his audience that they should change their regular way of thinking and let go of materialistic things in order to live a better, more sound, and overall healthier life. To develop this purpose, Eighner utilizes juxtaposition, exemplification, and definition.

    Read More

  • Graham Hill Consumerism

    2231 Words  | 5 Pages

    1. The main idea is not only that owning stuff is not the key to happiness, it’s also that consumers today own more than they need to thrive which directly impacts the environment. Hill illustrates the environmental impact by showing statistics of global warming today versus the past century, and how consumerism is leading to a hotter climate. Hill debunks claims of buying happiness by discussing a study where stress hormones spike to their highest when people are managing their personal belongings. Hill’s most prominent example that consumerism is not the answer is himself, as he discusses some of the most stressful times of his life being right after coming into a large sum of money and buying whatever he fancied. When Hill concludes his article, he states that “I have less—and enjoy more. My space is small. My life is big” (213).

    Read More

  • Graham Hill Living With Less Analysis

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    We’re all materialist to one extent or another. we all use and enjoy material goods in our daily lives, and most of us simply couldn't get by without them. And there's nothing wrong with that, as long as the desire for material goods doesn't control us and our actions”. In my opinion, some materialism is important in our daily lives as, long as it does not interfere with our

    Read More

  • Dumpster Diving Analysis

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    He teaches his readers two valuable lessons that he learned through his experience of dumpster diving; take only what you can use, and the short existence of material things. I agree wholeheartedly with these two principles. Spiritual and mental things last for a much longer time than any knick knack ever can. And indeed it is easy to believe that an object holds a sentiment to us, think backwards to what that object first transformed from. A treasure chest, a block of wood, a log, a tree, a small seed. Look at that sentimental object for what it really is and it truly is nothing more than what we make out of it. Yet we still have the sentiments and memories that object supposedly holds. I too believe that there is no reason in holding onto things that we don’t need either. Eighner is trying to explain to us that we shouldn’t place our happiness in such things that clutter our lives and are really just

    Read More

  • Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping - Beyond Reason

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    The house Sylvie attempts to "keep" must accommodate change including the peace and threat implied by nothingness. "A house should be built to float cloud high, if need be...A house should have a compass and a keel" (184). Rather than being seduced by the ultimate and final separation of nothingness, Ruth learns (as a transient) that housekeeping can be an expansive and inclusive method of engaging and interpreting the world.

    Read More

  • The Foundation of My Identity

    2053 Words  | 5 Pages

    Among carpenters, it is a well-known fact that building a house upon a solid foundation is imperative. When beginning the construction of a home, the foundation is always the first step leading to success, for without it, the house will become unstable. During extreme weather, such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other conditions, a slight fault in the foundation of a home will most likely guarantee significant damage, if not complete destruction. Similar to a house, a person’s identity must rest upon a firm foundation; otherwise, it may not be capable of withstanding the ominous conditions of the world. When trials and burdens threaten to crumble people’s identities, their foundations must stand their ground and overcome the various tribulations. Although there are billions of inhabitants of the world, no two people share the same identity; rather, each person has unique memories, stories, events, and artifacts influencing who they have become. Some people’s identities may reflect a difficult childhood of discrimination, poverty, and hatred similar to the one described by Malcolm X in his article, “Nightmare.” Other people may associate with Katie Pederson and her article, “Identity,” in which they are defined through a simple artifact such as an identification card. In addition, numerous unfortunate people may struggle from the devastating effects of memory loss similar to those Floyd Skloot experienced, and they are helpless as their memories and identity slowly slip away from them. Still other people may find themselves desperately searching for acceptance and identity similar to the homeless man in Gina Berriault’s article, “Who Is It Can Tell Me Who I Am.” Unlike the homeless man and Malcolm X, I was fortuna...

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wall Paper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story starts out with a hysterical.woman who is overprotected by her loving husband, John. She is taken to a summer home to recover from a nervous condition. However, in this story, the house is not her own and she does not want to be in it. She declares it is “haunted” and “that there is something queer about it” (The Yellow Wall-Paper. 160). Although she acknowledges the beauty of the house and especially what surrounds it, she constantly goes back to her feeling that there is something strange about the house. It is not a symbol of security for the domestic activities, it seems like the facilitates her release, accommodating her, her writing and her thoughts, she is told to rest and sleep, she is not even allow to write. “ I must put this away, he hates to have me write a word”(162). This shows how controlling John is over her as a husband and doctor. She is absolutely forbidden to work until she is well again. Here John seems to be more of a father than a husband, a man of the house. John acts as the dominant person in the marriage; a sign of typical middle class, family arrangement.

    Read More

  • The Narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    Under the orders of her husband, the narrator is moved to a house far from society in the country, where she is locked into an upstairs room. This environment serves not as an inspiration for mental health, but as an element of repression. The locked door and barred windows serve to physically restrain her: “the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls.” The narrator is affected not only by the physical restraints but also by being exposed to the room’s yellow wallpaper which is dreadful and fosters only negative creativity. “It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide – plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.”

    Read More

  • Room, by Emma Donoghue

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    We have all heard the African proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” The response given by Emma Donoghue’s novel Room, simply states, “If you’ve got a village. But if you don’t, then maybe it just takes two people” (Donoghue 234). For Jack, Room is where he was born and has been raised for the past five years; it is his home and his world. Jack’s “Ma” on the other hand knows that Room is not a home, in fact, it is a prison. Since Ma’s kidnapping, seven years prior, she has survived in the shed of her capturer’s backyard. This novel contains literary elements that are not only crucial to the story but give significance as well. The Point-of-view brings a powerful perspective for the audience, while the setting and atmosphere not only affect the characters but evokes emotion and gives the reader a mental picture of their lives, and the impacting theme along-side with conflict, both internal and external, are shown throughout the novel.

    Read More

  • Volunteering at a Nursing Home

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    As I walked down the corridor I noticed a man lying in a hospital bed with only a television, two dressers, and a single window looking out at nothing cluttering his room. Depression overwhelmed me as I stared at the man laying on his bed, wearing a hospital gown stained by failed attempts to feed himself and watching a television that was not on. The fragments of an existence of a life once active and full of conviction and youth, now laid immovable in a state of unconsciousness. He was unaffected by my presence and remained in his stupor, despondently watching the blank screen. The solitude I felt by merely observing the occupants of the home forced me to recognize the mentality of our culture, out with the old and in with the new.

    Read More

  • Compulsive Hoarding Syndrome

    1788 Words  | 4 Pages

    Compulsive hoarding has been universally defined by researchers as a chronic behavioral syndrome that is categorized by three unique qualities: the extreme retention and failure to dispose of an abundant quantity of useless objects, living environments so condensed with clutter that it compromises day-to-day living for its occupants, and finally a significant provocation of anxiety or distress caused by the hoarding (Franks et al. 79). Although the definition of compulsive hoarding is universally accepted, the cau...

    Read More

  • Hoarding Essay

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    A clean home is something that should come easy for anyone. Most people would consider anyone with a dirty and cluttered home to be lazy or filthy, but many are unaware of the psychological disorder Hoarding, which affects about 5% of the population, both men and women (Neziroglu, n.d.). Hoarding is the act of one having difficulties separating from their belongings. Although many confuse hoarding with collecting, there is a significant difference from the two. Those who collect, gather a specific product as a hobby or a profession, but those with a Hoarding disorder keep items without a notable worth and it accumulates in areas that were previously used for living. It is believed that hoarding is caused by a deficiency with a person’s information processing or led by a cognitive disorder, or a disturbing emotional shock (“The Hoarding Project”, 2016

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Hoarding

    1626 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Hoarding is the excessive collection of items, along with the inability to discard them. Hoarding often creates such cramped living conditions that homes may be filled to capacity, with only narrow pathways winding through stacks of clutter. Some people also collect animals, keeping dozens or hundreds of pets often in unsanitary conditions” (Mayo Clinic). Hoarding seems to be a growing problem that affects millions of people in the United States today. It can affect anyone, ranging from a thirteen year- old child anywhere to an eighty year- old. Behind every problem, is a cause and consequences that go along with it. Unless you are a hoarder yourself, you may not fully understand what exactly causes someone to become a hoarder, the consequences that may arise from having your life affected by hoarding, or the possible solutions that are out there to help over come this compulsive disorder.

    Read More

  • Consumer Culture and Identity

    2228 Words  | 5 Pages

    Dittmar, H. 1992. The Social Psychology of Material Possessions: To Have Is To Be, Hertfordshire, Harvester Wheatsheaf.

    Read More

More about Negative Side Of Self Storage

Open Document