my new anti-protest state of mind

the silkbox stands for the metaphor of the natural, raw, rough-around-the-edges beauty that i want to see in everyday objects and in people. i picture a plain empty wooden box lined with raspberry colored watered silk. the box is an object manufactured by humans and machines operated by humans, yet it is also made out of natural materials, things that used to be alive, or that were created by a living thing. this is how i want to live my life. i want to create a point of view for myself that makes this corporate world in which i live bearable to me. i want to be able to look at my life as a composition of organic beautiful materials, or else i don't think i will make it through.
this idea started with my decision to boycott starbucks. i know, it is a trite and pretentious concept. but i loathe the thought of contributing to a company that is making all of us the same. starbucks are all over the world, making even the most foreign places familiar places for americans to visit. i protest that! i protest the globalization of america! i protest MTV and the popmusic business! i protest the academy awards for failing to truly reflect the genius of american filmmakers! i protest reality television! i protest staples and borders and target and subway!

that said, i also understand that (1) i must live in this world (2) protesting starbucks is completely pointless and (3) i regularly happily accept the conveniences of having familiar brands at my fingertips when i go grocery shopping (READ: Claussen pickles) and to the mall (READ: Benefit Cosmetics). in fact, my very favorite objects in the whole world, books, are manufactured in bulk by corporate entities. and i don't want to give up reading.
so instead of being an angry crazy person who cannot function in the real world, i have decided to, first, boycott starbucks. ha! second, though, i want to try and approach the world with a different eye. an eye toward acknowledging the natural, the spiritual, in everyone and everything. so i hope that this blog, which really is just an outlet for my own reflections, will aid me in my quest to find a voice, an outlook, a place, where i fit.