Objects Quarterly

Volume V: Tactile sympathy, blooks, packing a go bag, and more

Welcome to the fifth edition of OBJECTS QUARTERLY, a roundup of object-related items of interest published, uh, quarterly, for supporters of The Art of Noticing. Attending to objects is a sub-theme of TAoN, and a favorite subject of mine. Revisit prior OQ issues, other mindful materialism posts, here. While this is for TAoN supporters, I encourage you to forward OQ to potentially interested parties. Enjoy!

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TACTILE SYMPATHY

The New Yorker had an essay a couple months back that I just got to, on professional organizers, and decluttering. There was one detail I liked:

“Lay everything out and decide from afar what to discard; the idea is that, once you touch something, you’re more likely to keep it. This is what has been described as ‘tactile sympathy.’”

This is so fascinating to me! In my office, by a window I often look out of, there’s a wooden box containing our old dog Rey’s ashes, and I touch it all the time — brushing my hand over it to make sure it’s not dusty, etc. But I never thought about the connection between touch and an object’s personal value.

I think if we set aside the decluttering angle, it’s pretty interesting to consider the objects we touch and handle, and why, and how it affects a relationship to an object. Sometimes that relationship is basically practical — utensils, garden implements, a computer keyboard. But sometimes I’ll just have an abstract urge handle some knick-knack on the shelf, or even to touch a fence or a tree.

Of course when I think about what object I touch most frequently throughout the day, the first thing I think of is my phone. Not sure how I feel about that! It adds something to the phrase “touch grass” — often deployed as snarky advice to the overly online. Maybe a new goal, or at least exercise: Spend a day paying attention to what you touch. Where do your tactile sympathies lie?