Folding Life / Life Pack

I've had a bit of a time reconciling myself to materialism. It is one of the foremost scary things about our society and has been used in such horrible manipulative ways. But deep down it is an utterly human thing, inherent even. We like things. So despite the fact that that is one of the major exploitations of the modern times, we can still like things. So I'm going to unroll for you now I new set of products that I think do well to combat some of the negatives of materialism.

I am really into portability. So are a lot of people, as the trend towards tininess will exemplify for us. What I want is totally a bad impulse, it is premised on lies and yet I want it still. I want to be an island. I want things, but I don't want the restriction they impose on you.

I think someone should develop kits that cover all the bases you need them to. You can find something like this at your local outdoor goods store. A little zippered pouch with a number of elastic holsters for little plastic bottles (bottles included) just sitting their ripe for the fillings with whatever you can possibly imagine. I want that. But I want it on a grand, life-size scale. Like it could be a series of these zippered pouches that read things like: food, lodging, cleanliness, communication, entertainment. And each one you fill the way you specifically would choose to fill that pouch. And then you through them all into a big bag that has space for each of them called the Life Pack.

So now I must admit how horrible this is, despite my undying love of it as an idea. You could market this to people as the ideal way to organize their lives and they would buy it because it has the wonderful feeling of organization and clean, clear lines and boundaries. In real life any such bag would be vomiting up the detritus of your connections and indecision. Real life is never so clean.

There are, however, good impulses to be had in this. For one any person who could fit themselves into this bag would have a clear sense of what is important to them. It would represent for them a clear head. Also it can be a mental exercise in simply trying to choose what is of the most value to you. For me this is always about not wanting to be weighed down by your things, wanting to be able to move about with your life. The backpack image is really my own concoction of hiking and too many On the Road type stories. What it is tho' is the size of things that you can literally carry. For me it is a goal towards real valuation. How do you choose what is most important and goes in the pack? The reality of it, is that once I pack the pack, I usually have a lot of remaining space in the car for the overflow to rest in.

This isn't about disconnection. This is about clearing things up.