On The Joy of Ownership

I drive a 1965 Corvette Stingray that was my father’s. There’s joy in keeping it in good condition and operational, and there’s joy in driving it. Its history gives both of those things more meaning than they would have with another car.

This Type 7 film captures that kind of attachment. It opens with a thought about making things people will want to keep using:

We want people to use what we make with affection for a long time.

That seems like a good ambition for anything worth making. An object can continue to be useful while becoming more meaningful to the person who owns it. Time spent caring for it becomes part of the pleasure of having it.

Later, the film connects that attachment to use:

I think affection includes the enjoyment of using it.

I feel that with the Corvette. Keeping it running lets me enjoy it as a car, while preserving something that matters to me because it was my father’s. Driving it adds to its history. I get to care for what it already means to me and keep enjoying it in the present.