While growing up in Korea, one thing I learned was that everything could be copied. Specifically, brand name products. Koreans were the masters of fake brand name clothing, accessories, bags, everything. It was so commonplace that learning how to spot fakes was common knowledge. When I was living there, Korea was establishing itself as a powerhouse. And as a small peninsula, it didn’t have the resources to back up its ambitious claims, but it had all of the ambition. So as a consumer you were caught between high end authentic brand name stores, and the black market renditions of these same brands. There was nothing in between, and Korea had not yet established their own brand name products.
So, you ended up with really expensive things, or really expensive looking things. Before I understood what money was, or credit or capitalism, I knew what high end brand names meant. Korea was a sea of brand names, whether they were real or fake.
So, when I came to the States, I carried this mentality with me from Korea. I thought everything was a brand name, and if it wasn’t, I could tell if it was fake. During this time, the mid 90s, I purchased my first pair of authentic brand name sunglasses. (This was before I realized I go through sunglasses like umbrellas. Now I buy $5 sunglasses.) For some reason, I never lost this pair and because they were a precious investment for me at the time, I kept them. I’ve held onto them because I spent so much money on them. And now I don’t even wear them.
Capitalism is deeply embedded in our cultural understanding. Even though I let go of brand name things a very long time ago, I’ve kept this pair of sunglasses from that time period. It is one of the most expensive accessories I have ever purchased for myself.
So on Day 319 of my 365 Release practice for non-attachment, letting go and change, I am letting go of one of the last items I have of a time where I even used to think about name brand items. What a different time in my life. I am so happy to be where I am today.
[I created the 365 Release Project to practice non-attachment, letting go and change by giving away 1 thing a day for 1 year. The background, vision and guidelines to the 365 RELEASE project are here. The running list of everything I have released is here.]
1 thought on “YK’s 365 Release: Day 319”