“This is mine” vs “I like”

From Joia’s daily walk

Today, I’ve been reflecting more on the key idea from our latest Rapid Excellence Exercise on amplifying your favorites.

Specifically, I’ve thinking more about saying “mine” or “not mine” about all the possibilities the world presents, and how saying “this is mine” is so much more powerful for self-actualizing than merely saying “I like”.

“I like” is such a milquetoast statement, especially in our era of social media, which sets everyone up to “like” all sorts of things that really make no difference to us personally.

“This is mine” bears your naked soul. And builds it.

“This is mine” resonates with one of my favorite passage from one of my favorite novels, “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand (an exploration of what it means to be a creator, about which I do say “this is mine”):

“It’s strange,” said Wynand. “I am the most offensively possessive man on earth. I do something to things. Let me pick up an ash tray from a dime-store counter, pay for it and put it in my pocket—and it becomes a special kind of ash tray, unlike any on earth, because it’s mine. It’s an extra quality in the thing, like a sort of halo. I feel that about everything I own. From my overcoat—to the oldest linotype in the composing room—to the copies of the Banner on newsstands—to this penthouse—to my wife. And I’ve never wanted to own anything as much as I want this house you’re going to build for me, Howard. I will probably be jealous of Dominique living in it—I can be quite insane about things like that. And yet—I don’t feel that I’ll own it, because no matter what I do or pay, it’s still yours. It will always be yours.”

“It has to be mine,” said Roark. “But in another sense, Gail, you own that house and everything else I’ve built. You own every structure you’ve stopped before and heard yourself answering.”

“In what sense?”

“In the sense of that personal answer. What you feel in the presence of a thing you admire is just one word—‘Yes.’ The affirmation, the acceptance, the sign of admittance. And that ‘Yes’ is more than an answer to one thing, it’s a kind of ‘Amen’ to life, to the earth that holds this thing, to the thought that created it, to yourself for being able to see it. But the ability to say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ is the essence of all ownership. It’s your ownership of your own ego. Your soul, if you wish. Your soul has a single basic function—the act of valuing. ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ ‘I wish’ or ‘I do not wish.’ You can’t say ‘Yes’ without saying ‘I.’ There’s no affirmation without the one who affirms. In this sense, everything to which you grant your love is yours.”

What merits your love?

To what do you say, “this is mine”?

To your acts of valuing,

-Joia

(PS For those who also claim ownership of The Fountainhead, this coming week as we go deeper into the Anti-Laws of Luxury Marketing, be on the lookout for how Howard Roark’s entrepreneurial approach IS in essence the luxury strategy, whereas Peter Keating follows the average, mass-market business approach)

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