CityView Magazine

on second thought The Downside of Having It All ���The best things in life aren���t things.��� ��� Art Buchwald W By mary zahran hen I was in grammar school, I sat beside a boy named Frank who owned something that I longed for ��� a box of 64 Crayola crayons with a built-in sharpener. Day after day, I would watch him pull out crayons of exotic hues to draw pictures of houses, animals and people. My own artistic attempts were woefully inferior to his, not just because I lacked his talent but because I had a box with only eight crayons of basic colors, not a vermillion or chartreuse or aquamarine to be found anywhere. Looking back on this chapter of my life, I now believe that perhaps it was Frank who was at a disadvantage by owning such a grand and glorious box of crayons. Where could he go from there? He had already reached the pinnacle of crayon ownership at the tender age of 9. What other heights could he possibly achieve? Frank���s 64-count crayon box (even with its built-in sharpener) seems like a pitiful object of envy compared to the things that children own now. Today, a child���s world overflows with computers, smart phones, Kindles, X-boxes, Wii gaming systems and giant flat screen televisions, objects that are obsolete almost as soon as they are removed from their packaging. Children retreat to their rooms, where their electronic selfsufficiency allows them to spend their time in physical isolation from family and friends. What do children long for anymore? When I was a child, in addition to lusting after Frank���s box of crayons, I wanted a bathroom of my own and a television in my bedroom, two things that I thought for sure would make my life exciting and meaningful. At the time, I shared one bathroom with six other people, a scenario certain to create patience and selfcontrol in even the most impulsive person, and I learned, along with the rest of my family, the value of waiting for something until it was my turn to have it. I still don���t have a bathroom of my own, but the ratio of users to available bathrooms has diminished considerably. 12 | March/April ��� 2013 However, I now have a television in my bedroom, but the excitement and meaning in my life come from other sources, most notably from my relationships with my family and friends and from my love of books and music. Frankly, I would be horribly embarrassed as an adult to think that the television in my bedroom, or any television anywhere in my house for that matter, adds any significance whatsoever to my life. I have discovered that owning a lot of things ��� whether those things are televisions or cashmere sweaters ��� makes all of my possessions seem somehow less special than if I had just a few of them. I came to that conclusion when I was well into my adult years, so I can only imagine the ���consumer ennui��� that many young people must feel when they are overindulged from birth. When your every wish is granted (and usually granted immediately), what is there left to wish for? A bigger and better version of what you just received? Where does that kind of thinking lead anyone? We could probably all benefit from having less, not more. Besides, all those things that we own take up not only physical room in our lives but psychological space as well. We have to pay for them, store them, clean them, arrange them, maintain them, learn how to operate them, keep track of them, and then figure out how to dispose of them when they become obsolete. Then we have to go through the whole cycle again with the next version. All this time, energy, and money could be put to better use by pursuing a life of simple pleasures and pastimes ��� like owning and coloring with a 64-count box of crayons with a built-in sharpener. It doesn���t cost much, it doesn���t take up much room, and it never goes out of style. Just ask Frank ��� or better yet, the girl who sat beside him. CV Mary Zahran, who still doesn���t own a box of 64 Crayola crayons with a built-in sharpener, lives in Fayetteville. She can be reached at maryzahran@gmail.com.

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