Your Stuff Says Stuff

That’s right. According to Sam Gosling, a social psychologist, our stuff says stuff about us and our personalities. In fact, he says that in order to really learn about the people you know… don’t spend time with them, spend time with their possessions.

And I just have to say this idea made me SO curious as a writer that I decided I had to find out more. And then the sociologist in me got curious. And then the snoop in me got curious. And now I am in the middle of nowhere without a bookstore to be seen and I am literally burning with curiosity. I’m curious what my stuff says about me (I actually had issues with building a house way back when there were no houses on the market and the only way to get a house was to build one as I feared what living in a brand new house would say about me), what sort of things I can put in my stories to leave telling traces that allow the reader to see what my character is really about–or not about. I’m curious about what my friends are really like, my parents, my in-laws, my relatives of all shapes and sizes, my neighbours, my … well, you get the point. I’m curious!

So, I’ve ordered Gosling’s book “Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You.” And I will report back here on what I read. But come on… you have to admit, aren’t you a touch curious too?

“Sam Gosling is an engaging writer, a brilliant psychologist, and a charming individual—and he must never, ever be allowed inside my office!”–Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Bonk