POSSESSION
[A friend recommended Baltasar Gracian's The Art of Worldly Wisdom. Gracian was a Spanish scholar of the 17th century who set forth a series of maxims for ethical action. From time to time I'll write about one of his maxims.]
I periodically re-read Gracian, looking for something wise, something to use in my life, some new insight. I often find that I overlook things the first time I read a maxim, so I always look forward to a re-read. His maxims are all short, but dense. There's a lot to think about in each maxim. I fervently wish everyone would read Gracian, if only to help my understanding. I've had a particularly hard time understanding the subject for this week, maxim 263: "Many things of Taste one should not possess oneself".
Gracian tells us that "water from another's well tastes like nectar", tastes better than water from out own. He also notes that possession brings annoyance. I've tried to think about this from both sides: On the one hand, there's something strange about enjoying other people's possessions more than your own. Can he really mean that literally? I think he means that the burden of possession, of maintenance, if you will, can detract from the enjoyment of one's possessions. That is, if you are responsible for something, some part of your mind is always distracted by the responsibility. If you're enjoying something possessed by someone else, you're freed of that burden and can enjoy it unreservedly.
I think the responsibility of possession must be what Gracian is trying to tell us about. When I think about possessions, sometimes the mere need to clean seems burdensome. Dusting books, washing cars, vacuuming the carpet, all of these small jobs take away some of the enjoyment of possession. Even if we can get help, we still worry about these tasks. Possessions bring the need to be sure our possessions don't interfere with the lives of other people. We want to avoid negative effects on our neighbors and friends. But even more importantly, the burden of possessions includes the duty to share. If we are blessed with possessions, we need to try to include others in the blessing.
I want to think about this maxim some more but for now I've talked myself into this meaning: The more we can avoid the responsibility of possession, the more enjoyable our lives will be. I'm not sure I agree although I've seen meaningful examples. But, in any event, when we have the responsibility, let's discharge it by sharing.
2-24-03
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