projecting an image

Reading these wonderful thought-provoking posts on owning, how we buy into the myth of ownership. We think that by owning our own place, owning a car, clothes and all that stuff, we are building an image of ourselves, an image we project to the world. We then want to keep upgrading this image, we will go to great lengths to protect it. We think that owning and possessing is what gives value to our existance and value to our being.

Why is building an image of ourselves important? Why do we feel we need to display this image and keep embellishing it by hoarding up more stuff and owning more.

The desire to accumulate and possess more stuff comes from outside pressure, and will only alienate us further away from our true self, the freedom of just being ourselves without stuff attached to it and without labels of what we bought. But the more we own, the more time and energy, worry and money will go into maintaining, repairing our things and adding to them to keep the collection going.

I think  that wanting to project and protect this image of ourselves can manifest in different forms, from wearing clothes that represent our taste, to like-ing posts that protect our image. We may be protective of what we think we deserve credit for. 

And so protecting our image can also lead to alienating ourselves from others, being less interested in sharing. When you care more about being with other people, suddenly protecting your ego becomes less important, you will be more likely compromise and accept a shared image, a point of view that does not completely reflect yourself.