Why Do Seemingly Trivial Things Make Us Feel?
I notice during my day-to-day activities, which usually comprise of me sitting alone in my bedroom, on my bed, playing video games and thinking, I find myself pondering on the items - both digital and physical - situated within this bedroom I spend so much time in. I glance around, the main themes of items being books (so many unread), college work, clothes and gaming-related items. I stare at the item of clothing my mum brought upstairs, freshly cleaned and ready to be put back into my wardrobe once again.
Many things go through my mind about digital and physical items that fill my space, but the main ones tend to be clothes and decorations. I expect these items to make me FEEL. Whenever I go into a clothing store (primarily H&M and Forever 21), I expect to wander in and allow the clothes inside decide for me whether or not I'm buying them. I don't take my own control as to my style, I illogical allow my feelings to take over - which can so easily be influenced by environmental factors (notably the weather, for myself).
My room also remains relatively bland in terms of decoration. My mind immediately goes to the walls, my only efforts to decorate them being a neatly aligned column of postcards by the window, and a metal Statue of Liberty bookmark which was simply too expensive to actually use for its intended purpose. I felt a sense of joy, and still gain a sense of joy, from looking at these items on my wall, as they represent something in my heart - travel and the world. As a geography nerd who yearns to travel (which is complicated by the fact that I find it difficult move from my bed much of the time), this wall decoration has meaning. Despite this, the rest of the walls in my bedroom remain untouched by decor that could bring much more life to the small room that I am constantly spending time in.
"Why would you never bother decorating the room you spend so much time in?" The main reason is fear of the unknown. Sounds dramatic, right? Well, I can agree with you there. However, the simple fact is that if I nail something into a wall I liked at the time, I fear that it would no longer belong there some time down the line. This applies to everything from spending money to convert some of my favourite photos into Polaroids that would fit my 'aesthetic', as some would say, to nailing the two white washing line frames to the wall that have been collected dust in a lonely corner in my room since Christmas. Considering decorating usually brings up questions such as 'What if I don't like it there anymore? Now it's nailed there forever!' or 'What if I don't get the perfect positioning for the frames?' and 'What if I spend money to convert photos into Polaroids, only to decide I don't like those photos some time later? What a waste of money!' Sad, isn't it? 'What if-ing' tends to be a trend in the thought patterns of many of us.
Moving on from my tangent, let's regard the question once again - 'Why do seemingly trivial things make us feel?' Honest answer, I don't know, but damn do I wish to know and understand why an items of clothing may sit well with the emotions churning in my chest one day, and stir these emotions 10 minutes later. I can glance at the top still hanging from my wardrobe as my lazy arse has chosen to write this babbling post instead of put my clothes away, and allow my feelings to ebb and flow. I think it is the components and the context of an item put together that may bring about these feelings - from the colour, patterns, cut, material, and maybe just as significantly, the associations you have about that type of clothing item. Could you imagine it on the 'popular' girl from school who would probably post a photo of themselves wearing it on their Instagram? Do you associate it with some sort of indie/hipster Pinterest board? Or both? This is where I find fashion quite difficult, as a mix of feelings sourcing from all different directions and associations can really muddy the waters as to answering the seemingly simple question of - do I want to buy/keep this?
This concept of trivial items making me feel can making tidying quite difficult. At the time of writing this, I would say that we are still within the 'phase' of KonMari-ing our lives. Does x item 'spark joy'? Well, as much as I love this new tidying 'fad' and the Marie Kondo methods, I find it difficult when one day an item will make me feel one difficult-to-define feeling, and then make me feel something different and equally difficult to define within short spaces of time. This leads me to simply neglect getting rid of an item, or on the other side of the coin, buying new items, as I simply think and feel too hard about them. Maybe there's an underlying cause or question that results in such emotional and cognitive uncertainty, such as wanting to fit an aesthetic, but not even really knowing what your own aesthetic is when it fluctuates so often.
To conclude this, I feel as though perhaps I need to change my mindset when it comes to shopping for clothes and decor. Even though allowing joyous things into your life is an important aspect when buying items, I feel as though enabling myself to think too long and hard when purchasing can actually frustrate me more. Perhaps I should allow myself to be a little more free when shopping, as the worse case scenario will simply be that I learn I don't like that specific item, and so I wont buy it again. Purchased items can easily be reused or recycled, from donating to a local charity shop, to passing it on to a friend/family member. Shopping to express myself should be actively chosen by myself, and not muddied by a swirl of incomprehensible thoughts that often do not have a distinctive source or meaning.
Many things go through my mind about digital and physical items that fill my space, but the main ones tend to be clothes and decorations. I expect these items to make me FEEL. Whenever I go into a clothing store (primarily H&M and Forever 21), I expect to wander in and allow the clothes inside decide for me whether or not I'm buying them. I don't take my own control as to my style, I illogical allow my feelings to take over - which can so easily be influenced by environmental factors (notably the weather, for myself).
My room also remains relatively bland in terms of decoration. My mind immediately goes to the walls, my only efforts to decorate them being a neatly aligned column of postcards by the window, and a metal Statue of Liberty bookmark which was simply too expensive to actually use for its intended purpose. I felt a sense of joy, and still gain a sense of joy, from looking at these items on my wall, as they represent something in my heart - travel and the world. As a geography nerd who yearns to travel (which is complicated by the fact that I find it difficult move from my bed much of the time), this wall decoration has meaning. Despite this, the rest of the walls in my bedroom remain untouched by decor that could bring much more life to the small room that I am constantly spending time in.
"Why would you never bother decorating the room you spend so much time in?" The main reason is fear of the unknown. Sounds dramatic, right? Well, I can agree with you there. However, the simple fact is that if I nail something into a wall I liked at the time, I fear that it would no longer belong there some time down the line. This applies to everything from spending money to convert some of my favourite photos into Polaroids that would fit my 'aesthetic', as some would say, to nailing the two white washing line frames to the wall that have been collected dust in a lonely corner in my room since Christmas. Considering decorating usually brings up questions such as 'What if I don't like it there anymore? Now it's nailed there forever!' or 'What if I don't get the perfect positioning for the frames?' and 'What if I spend money to convert photos into Polaroids, only to decide I don't like those photos some time later? What a waste of money!' Sad, isn't it? 'What if-ing' tends to be a trend in the thought patterns of many of us.
Moving on from my tangent, let's regard the question once again - 'Why do seemingly trivial things make us feel?' Honest answer, I don't know, but damn do I wish to know and understand why an items of clothing may sit well with the emotions churning in my chest one day, and stir these emotions 10 minutes later. I can glance at the top still hanging from my wardrobe as my lazy arse has chosen to write this babbling post instead of put my clothes away, and allow my feelings to ebb and flow. I think it is the components and the context of an item put together that may bring about these feelings - from the colour, patterns, cut, material, and maybe just as significantly, the associations you have about that type of clothing item. Could you imagine it on the 'popular' girl from school who would probably post a photo of themselves wearing it on their Instagram? Do you associate it with some sort of indie/hipster Pinterest board? Or both? This is where I find fashion quite difficult, as a mix of feelings sourcing from all different directions and associations can really muddy the waters as to answering the seemingly simple question of - do I want to buy/keep this?
This concept of trivial items making me feel can making tidying quite difficult. At the time of writing this, I would say that we are still within the 'phase' of KonMari-ing our lives. Does x item 'spark joy'? Well, as much as I love this new tidying 'fad' and the Marie Kondo methods, I find it difficult when one day an item will make me feel one difficult-to-define feeling, and then make me feel something different and equally difficult to define within short spaces of time. This leads me to simply neglect getting rid of an item, or on the other side of the coin, buying new items, as I simply think and feel too hard about them. Maybe there's an underlying cause or question that results in such emotional and cognitive uncertainty, such as wanting to fit an aesthetic, but not even really knowing what your own aesthetic is when it fluctuates so often.
To conclude this, I feel as though perhaps I need to change my mindset when it comes to shopping for clothes and decor. Even though allowing joyous things into your life is an important aspect when buying items, I feel as though enabling myself to think too long and hard when purchasing can actually frustrate me more. Perhaps I should allow myself to be a little more free when shopping, as the worse case scenario will simply be that I learn I don't like that specific item, and so I wont buy it again. Purchased items can easily be reused or recycled, from donating to a local charity shop, to passing it on to a friend/family member. Shopping to express myself should be actively chosen by myself, and not muddied by a swirl of incomprehensible thoughts that often do not have a distinctive source or meaning.
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