> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.dashhouse.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# The Burden of Possessions
- URL: https://www.dashhouse.com/2009112the-burden-of-possessions-html/
- Published: 2009-01-12T15:40:45.000Z
- Updated: 2022-08-15T15:31:17.000Z
- Author: Darryl Dash
- Tags: Blog, Books, #DashHouseCom, #wp

I’m re-reading [*A Severe Mercy*](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060688246/dashhouse-20?ref=dashhouse.com) by Sheldon Vanauken. I first read this book twenty years ago, and should have returned to it before now. Here is one section that has always stuck with me:

> Over-valued possessions, we decided, were a burden possessing their owners. We decided to own nothing that we couldn’t be comfortable with – reproductions not originals, cheap bindings not rare editions. This idea of the burden of possessions we held to – and years later when we got our first glossy new car, we hit it severely with a hammer to make it comfortably dented.