(JCB) Chapter 10 Branding/ The Self and Social Interaction

Many of the materials in my life have meaning and some are just things. For instance, my Acura, which I bought my sophomore which is my baby and my truck which I got this year. As I read through this chapter several thoughts passed through my mind on how people collect things, they buy stuff and hold onto family heirlooms for various reasons, and these seem to be at least in my opinion normal. Another point of this chapter is branding. I believe this has to do with material items. Basically, what you own or what you wear also makes up your sense of self and who you are. A lot of people think that their brand name clothes are a good way of self-expression, but often, they forget the true meaning and they wear them because everyone else does. What seems to be abnormal is the marketing machine and social media. In today’s world, everyone is branding themselves and I feel as though I fell into the look at me bullshit. I have so many other things that I could be doing with my time. I think we have become so materialized through social media that a lot of us have lost touch with reality. Reality is everyone goes through pretty much the same struggles and buys or wants the same stuff. For the most part we all have our own individual ideals of success. We all want the best life for our loved ones and will work hard in order to make sure we can provide the best we can. But also we become different. The person we are behind closed doors and with our close friends/family is much different than the person we are in social settings with strangers, coworkers, classmates and/or peers. That’s what my father says all the time. I think the person you truly are is based on how you act around the ones you love or are comfortable around. That is a big way your “self” is developed. It’s who you are. Most people act much differently in public because they want to put out a good impression of themselves, and a lot of people step outside of what society refers to as “norms” in their private lives. Most individuals don’t go against norms in public for the reason of not wishing to be labeled. I believe this all ties in together. Many people fake to be one for social media the fake happiness and great times to make other people feel a type of way.