Property

By Radical Rhymes

I have the same disease that many in our societies do – I am far too interested in my ‘property’. In my defence, I wasn’t born with much, so for a while it seemed desperately important. To own things was to bolster the self, to attain status, to find meaning. And it worked at a level, for a while.

I’ve had nice things, cars, clothes, collectibles. They drew admiration and praise, far more than the things that I achieved, at least that’s my perception.

But as the years have gone on, I’ve learned that property isn’t owned as much as it owns.

I know someone who owns three very impressive cars and a large house. He’s been lucky in that he’s a good salesman and he inherited a sizable amount of money. He looks so happy with his hood down, driving through the town, the wind on his face and the road laid out ahead. And yet…

He worries so much about losing the cars that he had to put in electronic bollards at the end of the drive. Now, is that a sensible precaution, or, does it demonstrate a gnawing anxiety, a constant fear that someone might damage or steal his property? I know what I believe.

You see, I found myself in that position. I had an old sports car, it was a classic, not a grand car but a cool one. It needed work which I mostly had done, but there was a tear in the seat. That seat was on my to do list, but it never quite came around. And that caused me a minor headache; instead of enjoying the car I fixated on that seat.

I would say, looking back, that the car was in charge, it wasn’t property at all, it was my keeper. I spent more time worrying about it and the little things than I ever drew satisfaction from it. Now that I have much less, I worry about different things, real things.

I’ve known people that buy houses in secluded places and sit at their window policing their boundaries, waiting for some infiltrator, someone to impinge on their property. Constantly angry, constantly feeling threatened they fail to appreciate what they have or what they possess. It is a sad thing to witness.

Property is dust in the end. The things we own pass on, they take on their own lives when ours are over. Ownership is only ever a loan. The same thing with reputation and status, all is dust in the end. Those people who strive for legacies generally fail, and even if they achieve them in the short term they are destined to fade into oblivion.

But we do own this moment, and we are lucky to have those that follow. Wringing the joy from that knowledge is always the next step.

Radical Rhymes is a professional artist working with a range of media – predominantly animal/human portraits and landscapes – including, most recently, hand painted furniture. You can see his work on Instagram Radicalrhymes1969 or on Twitter @RhymesRadical.

For commissions, please contact him on Twitter via Direct Message or by email at: radicalrhymes@outlook.com His work is also available to buy on Etsy