you could give up all your worldly possessions

interlude -- aka that thing i do when i'm not directly talking about advertising/social media/marketing. instead, this post is dedicated to Blog Action Day, inspired when i read Advergirl's response. really, go read it. because she did it well and i'm not going to head in the same direction.

the theme this year is poverty. Advergirl gives examples of hands-on ways you can change poverty in the world around you. i think that's the point of the action, but i want to talk philosophically instead. i want to talk about the word possession. not its roots, but its context. because i think the root of poverty is our concept of possession. i'm not going to tell you to give up all your worldly possessions. we all need stuff. duh. that's kinda the point of poverty actions. to help people who don't have stuff get stuff. so yes, in essence, i'm pro-stuff.

but the concept of ownership--of possession--of items or of people has been tripping me up lately. i've been thinking a lot about infidelity, no small part in thanks to AV Flox [on the person-level] and on the corporate-level [that's just one link, hat tip to Gavin]. and also about ownership literally. like in the beginning of Fight Club where the narrator's apartment, his whole life basically right down to his treasured Ikea furniture, goes up in flames. and he has nothing.

"it's very easy to take more than nothing" -- Mad Hatter [Lewis Carroll]

if we think of ourselves as owning nothing, then everything we have is its own gift, come to us by way of the world, into our laps, and can go just as swiftly. letting go becomes easy. giving becomes easy. after all, what is it to you, who needs nothing, and can always have more than nothing? why do you not give? what are you saving for? what do you think you own? what do you fear to lose? what do you fear?

you get upset when someone leaves you because you thought you owned some part of them. that they for a moment might become a part of you. and that fear encroaches on many relationships. fear of cheating, fear of abandonment, fear of emotional distance, etc. you get upset when an object breaks, when you lose a stock, when hours are cut. i'm not saying any of those are unrealistic fears. i'm saying, comparatively, you would feel less stressed if you were less concerned with your territory, your ownership.

because right now, if you own up to the fact that you own nothing, you still "have stuff." you've changed your thought patterns but not your life, and that's alright. i'm not saying become a recluse and get out of every relationship because you can't have any true security in it. you don't have to go become a monk, but next time you can give, you might think of it as a little easier. easier to give more than nothing. and more thankful for those moments in which others give to you--a new sweater, an hour spent, a moment of intertwined fingers.

[disclosure: in my ugliest state, i am an intensely territorial creature. i am that jungle predator in my head, i like the idea of ownership and i can be incredibly defensive about it. a poem i wrote in college had the line "i would piss on tree bark just to prove it's not yours"; a paraphrase but still true. things belong to me because they have become a part of me. "you are not your fucking khakis" -- palahniuk. i am working through this. i am learning what it means not to own. i am good at giving. i am trying to be better.]

good, bad, ugly: more places to be.

link haze!

THE GOOD:
Tyler Durden's 8 Rules of Innovation. seriously brilliant & fun way of saying the usual stuff. i love Brian Clark for writing this. give it a read, even if you have no idea what Fight Club is. and if you do, well, you shouldn't be talking about it. and if you're on that kick, seriously, check out this awesome Fight Club kinetic typography. here and here.

THE BAD:
when will hair care people get it through their heads. WASHING MY HAIR does NOT give me--and i doubt any other women--orgasms. not Herbal Essences, not VO5. so just stop already. i want to know what moron thought that picking it up for VO5 would somehow make it more true. or is THAT why you guys thinking we take forever in the shower?!

also, 4 cheerleaders just taught me, courtesy of HungryMan, that "fuck" stands for "fornicate under consent of the king." i did not know this. but you can know this. [turns out i'm not stupider than marketing cheerleaders. it's not true. see comments.] check out the cheerleaders' series, i'm referring to the ep called "f**k." verdict still out on the campaign, though. i mean, it works for men, and that's the target, so i guess it's good? hat tip to adrants.

THE UGLY:
apparently, in the election, it all comes down to Halloween masks, ever since Reagan. the tricky thing this time around? of course, as usual, it's all about Palin. how-to costumes are popping up all over the internet, with tips galore. don't forget the gun, the baby, and of course, the glasses. UPDATE! "The GOP tells her what to say... now you can too!" -- pa.lindro.me speech creator.

badass, more badass, and badasser.

badass: Recount - showing us how badly we effed up since '00. it dares you to recast your presidential vote. if you can. (cue badass music)

more badass: Stoli Hotel - helping you forget to remember anything at all. it's a traveling circus, only with beds. the only way it could be better is if it weren't stoli. but hey, i already admitted i'm a vodka snob.

badasser: Beating Card - bringing you fight club in the safety of your interwebs. check out toad all decked out in black and blues. sexy, i tell you. heh.

and a parting gift, for those of us who have a slightly different definition of badass:
intellectual badassness: Inner Daemon - in His Dark Materials spirit, you can figure out what your inner daemon is. i've got a snow leopard. @dailybiz has some nice toucan plumage.