Place Attachment and the Value of Things

When I walked into class today I found someone else's stuff in "my" chair. I've been sitting there every class for the last 8 weeks and now someone else was there. I thought to myself... Who's stuff is this? I suppose I must have even looked upset because one of my classmates asked me if I was OK. Of course the answer was "Yes" but it was really "No". I knew that if I sat in one of my classmates spots they would be displaced as well, so I chose a seat one row back right behind "my" spot... I thought to myself... Nobody else sits here. When class started I found out I had been played... the entire class had been played. It was a experiment on one of our class subjects... PLACE ATTACHMENT. Well, I was attached to that place. I had to laugh.
What makes us attached to a place, why do we become attached to places? Some interesting questions to consider. There are several factors that can be attributed to the development of place attachment. These include:

• Time spent with family and friends
• Familiarity of the space leads to a sense of security
• Routines and Rituals help to anchor people to spaces
• Privacy allows people to be themselves
• Territoriality proves freedom of expression
• Personalization combines home with the persons identity
• Possessions represent memories and a sense of belonging

The second topic for today's class had to do with the value of things and how objects become meaningful to people. I have many things that are important to me. I have wooden box that was handcrafted by my brother sitting on my night stand. This "thing" is important to me. What is even more interesting is that I have chosen this box to house some other "things" that are also important to me. I have a silk horse Christmas tree ornament that came from a set that we had as I was growing up. My silver baby rattle. For Christmas one year I got a plaque that said "Heather's Room" it was the first item I received with my name on it (Heather was an uncommon name but my brother, Michael, was always getting things with his name on it). I never put it on my door because I was afraid it would fall off the door and break. The list goes on... but this treasured box of mine contains many of my treasures. Some of these things became meaningful because someone gave them to me others through association. Objects becoming meaningful to us through several different processes. These include:

• Acquiring
• Associating
• Perceiving
• Making
• Self-Presenting

Lastly, everyone in the class brought in a "thing". I was most intrigued with the things that were meaningful to my classmates. I loved hearing the stories of why these items held such importance. It made me smile.

Image: www.kidstvmovies.about.com