Lesson 3: Unpacking The Material Self PDF

Lesson 3 UNPACKING THE SELF THE MATERIAL SELF SELF ACTIVITY Debit Card Challenge A very wealthy person gave you a debit card and told you to use it as much as you want to make yourself happy. What are you going to do with it? Make a list of what you wan...

Lesson 3 UNPACKING THE SELF THE MATERIAL SELF SELF ACTIVITY Debit Card Challenge A very wealthy person gave you a debit card and told you to use it as much as you want to make yourself happy. What are you going to do with it? Make a list of what you want to have. Write as many as you want. ANALYSIS Answer the following questions: 1. How do you feel as you do the Debit Card Challenge? 2. Which among the items on your list you like the most? Why? 3. If ever you were given the chance in real life to have one among the list, which would you choose? Why?  WHAT ARE YOUR MATERIAL POSSESSIONS?  HOW DO YOU COPE WITH AN EXPERIENCE OF MATERIAL LOSS? ABRAHAM MASLOW HIERARCHY OF NEEDS People are continually motivated by one need or another. All people everywhere are motivated by the same basic needs. This concept assumes that lower needs must be satisfied or at least relatively satisfied before higher needs become motivators. PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS The most basic needs of any person. Physiological needs differ from other needs in at least two important respects: a. They are the only needs that can be completely satisfied or evenly over satisfied b. Recurring in nature  BY DR. GARY CHAPMAN Gifts are heartfelt symbols to you of someone else’s love and affection for you. MATERIAL SELF Components of Material Self A. BODY The innermost part of our material self is our body. We are directly attached to this commodity that we cannot live without. We strive hard to make sure that this body functions well and good. Any ailment or disorder directly affect us. We do have certain preferential attachment or intimate closeness to certain body parts because of its value to us. Ex. Mariah Carey (who was reported to have placed a huge amount for the insurance oh her vocal cords and legs. B. CLOTHES William James believed that clothing is an essential part of the material self. Lotze in his book, Microcosmus, stipulates that “any time we bring an object into the surface of our body, we invest that object into the consciousness of our personal existence taking in its contours to be our own and making it part of the self”. The fabric and style of the clothes we wear bring sensations to the body to which directly affect our attitudes and behavior. Clothing is a form of self-expression. We choose and wear clothes that reflect our self. C. IMMEDIATE FAMILY Our parents and siblings hold another great important part of our self. What they do or become affects us. When an immediate family member dies, part of our self dies, too. When their lives are in success, we feel their victories as if we are the one holding the trophy. In their failures, we are put to shame or guilt. We place huge investment in our immediate family when we see them as the nearest replica of our self. D. HOME Home is the earliest nest of our selfhood. Our experiences inside the home were recorded and marked on particular parts and things in our home. The home thus is an extension of self, because in it, we can directly connect our self. Worth knowing… Having investment of self to things, made us attached to those things. The more investment of self-given to the particular thing, the more we identify ourselves to it. A man’s SELF is the sum total of all what he CAN call his. Possessions then become a part or an extension of the self. Personal Collections HOARDING DISORDER Hoarding Disorder is a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them. A person with hoarding disorder experiences distress at the thought of getting rid of the items. Excessive accumulation of items, regardless of actual value, occurs. Hoarding often creates such cramped living conditions that homes may be filled to capacity, with only narrow pathways winding through stacks of clutter. Countertops, sinks, stoves, desks, stairways and virtually all other surfaces are usually piled with stuff. And when there's no more room inside, the clutter may spread to the garage, vehicles, yard and other storage facilities. WE ARE WHAT WE HAVE Russel Belk posits that “…we regard our possessions as part of ourselves. We are what we have and what we posses.” As we grow older, putting importance to material possession decreases. Material possession gains higher value in our lifetime if we use material possession to find happiness, associate these things with significant events, accomplishments, and people in our lives. The possessions that we dearly have tell something about who we are, our self-concept, our past, and even our future. =