Starting Off on the Right Foot

Imagine getting ready for your day. You have an appointment early in the morning, the start of a new project. Even though you didn’t sleep as much as you wanted - the excitement for your meeting woke you up early -, you still feel rested and energized. You gather all the things you need, stuff your wallet and keys into your bag, put on your shoes, grab a coat, and leave the house. You arrive at the meeting ahead of schedule, with enough time to relax and enjoy a hot beverage.

But….which shoe did you put on first? Did you put on the left shoe first? Or do you start with the right shoe?

There are many things and objects we use almost every single day, without really thinking about their impact on our lives. These “passive objects” are ingrained in our daily routine. They help us express ourselves and they shape our habits. Most people won't really think about which shoe they put on first, but most will still have a preference, a routine that feels comfortable or familiar. We all have our own way of making them part of our world.

Actually, even our seemingly insignificant possessions are never “just things” to us. We care about them, take care of them, forge bonds with them. You probably have a favorite pair of shoes, or maybe you kept a rock you found on a trip somewhere. We treasure our possessions and we give them meaning. We connect them to cherished memories, we buy them for special days, we give them to loved ones. All of these “things” are part of an extensive network of material culture, a network that forges a cultural identity and shapes tradition.

However, when an object leaves the routine of everyday life, it becomes removed from this network. For example, when a pair of slippers enters a museum collection, they are no longer footwear to be worn and used, but objects to be studied and appreciated. Upon leaving everyday life, objects gain entirely new identities, which are shaped by the museum or by the collector. And sometimes, when a new identity is created, information about the object's previous life is lost….