Got A Light?

There are certain little things that it feels to me like you ought to have on your person as you are out living life. Some of them are genuinely useful for everyone, such as house keys. Others are needed by some and disdained by others, like an inhaler. What interests me are items that some want or need and others like to carry as an affectation. I am not immune to that. I'm in fact rather susceptible to whims and fashions to the extent that they are easy and cheap to adopt.

Something that I carried for some time for that very reason is a Zippo lighter. I was working at a summer camp when one turned up with no apparent owner. When one never materialized, I took it for myself. I myself would lose it just days later in a movie theater. I promptly replaced it when I spotted them for sale behind the counter at a drugstore. Now, you must understand that I don't smoke, nor have I ever done so. Nonetheless, I had in my mind the notion that it was a handy thing to have. Moreover, I believed that it was a kind of manly talisman, and that possessing it imbued me with a greater level of coolness than I would otherwise have.

I'm sure it's plain how silly and incorrect that is. I really never got much use from any of the lighters I carried. They required tedious maintenance, and on an even more frequent basis than normal since it mostly lay idle. Because I tended to be derelict in the duty of maintaining it, it usually failed me on the exceedingly rare occasions when I wanted to use it. Usually some stranger would ask if I had a light. Delighted, I would reply that I did, leading to embarrassment when it failed to deliver.

Afte the last time I had a lighter confiscated at the airport security checkpoint, I decided that enough was enough, and there was no sense putting more money into this purposeless habit. I do still carry a lot of items on me, but mainly just things that I would have a realistic chance of using. I am making an effort to divest myself of non essential possessions. People who have few things can move faster, get more done and are generally more free. That's what I'm shooting for.