I admit to being a conspicuous consumer in the 80’s. It was the decade very much on the cusp of the technology explosion and just past the age of a buying things that were meant to last. Many of the things built during the period didn’t survive repurposing.

The 1980’s were also when I realized the strength of my buying power. I got my first job that wasn’t minimum wage. The higher earnings were the foundation to my conspicuous consumption. I bought a lot of things without examining how long I could, or would, actually use them.

Now, I live a very simple life. My behaviors don’t vary too much from day to day. My pleasures are quiet and mostly done in solitude. I try to stay on the purposeful side of life. It has been many years since I have purchased items at random. And even longer since I have bought things with the intent of getting rid of them soon.

So in looking at the things I use in daily life it’s not hard to see how many have been a part of my life for many years. My jewelry box is repurposed from my one of my nieces who is now grown with teenage children of her own. The box was her trinket box from her preteen years.

I graduated from high school in the late 1970’s. Went away to college and returned to my hometown. In the process of moving, I came back with a particular cardboard box filled with things I wasn’t sure what to do with. Momentos from truly miraculous days as I discovered who I was within myself in the heady period of college life. Some older items I took with me as I reminder of where I came from. I found that cardboard box again while in my 40’s. In there I found my old high school sweater. I will still wear that from time to time.

But in terms of the oldest item I use on a regular basis, it would have to be one of my cooking pans. When I was a child, rice cookers were not a common household item. I use to wonder how they made enough rice to serve everybody who went to the local Chinese restaurant. We had one pan my mom would always make rice in. Since those days, I have gone through 3 or 4 electric rice cookers because rice cookers don’t require watching. But I kept my moms old rice pan. I am pretty sure that pan is older than me.

No repurposing with that specific item. I first saw it for what it was and it is still that to this day. From the regular use of sitting atop a flame, it is not possible to see any manufacturer indication. The top doesn’t quite fit as securely as it once did, but it still does what I need it to. It makes rice and reminds me of how I am the bridge to what came before and what will come after.