Do you remember that favourite chair that your Mum and Dad liked to sit on while watching television? Did you ever wonder why they favoured that particular piece of furniture? Well, it’s probably because they were sentimentally attached to it for the reasons we’ll be looking at below:
1. Attachment: Psychologists say that as we grow older the items we own don’t just remain ordinary things but assume a more significant role as an extension of our personality. So, it is likely that that piece of furniture in some way communicated the authority figure of your Mum and Dad or just their desire to be attached to a special cocoon-within-a-cocoon as much of our sitting furniture can be in a living space.
2. Comfort: Doctors would be the first to tell you this: if you can heal the body, you can heal the mind. There is a strong connection between our bodies and minds: and both desire comfort. Just as people with spinal cord injuries love nothing more than to take occasional dips in the pool, others can find the ‘cure’ to other bodily aches by attaching themselves to their favourite piece of furniture. .
Over time, they’ll come to associate this feeling of attachment to one of comfort and run quickly to their beds or chairs when they want to be alone from the world. Sometimes we just need non-verbal comfort to help us heal from life’s challenges and that’s why some pieces of furniture are built to be orthopaedic.
3. Familiarity: The sensation we feel from regularly seeing or using our favourite pieces of furniture builds up a sense of familiarity which strengthens our inner identity and expectations. This reinforces our world-view and an appreciation for our decision-making ability. In other words, you’ll be congratulating yourself for acting on your urge to buy a divan or an Ottoman and justifying that purchase because you’ve always considered yourself to be extraordinarily unique with better taste when compared to your friends.
We are biologically primed to own or possess things and this filters through every aspect of our lives which in turn feeds an attachment complex in the brain. However way you choose to look at it, having furniture provides a feeling of familiarity, a sense of comfort and the need for attachment that all humans crave. Go for it!
