Megan posted a quote from The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin.
The head of Eliza’s school told a story about a four-year-old who had a blue toy car he loved. He took it everywhere, played with it constantly. Then when his grandmother came to visit, she bought him ten toy cars, and he stopped playing with the cars altogether. ‘Why don’t you play with your cars?’ she asked. ‘You loved your blue car so much.’ ‘I can’t love lots of cars,’ he answered.
That made me think about one of my favorite Phillipe Starck designs, TeddyBearBand (1998). The bear itself is interesting, but it’s Starck’s explanation that brings the beauty.
In my opinion, an overabundance of toys fosters infidelity. Instead of forming a lasting attachment to one toy, the child flits ever faster from one to another, the greater the number of toys, the more frantic the pace. There is no reason that, later on, he or she should treat people, a friend or a lover any differently. As an advocate of the one-true-love approach, I dreamt of a single toy that would serve as an apprenticeship for the lasting human relationships that await our children.
A surreal toy, TeddyBearBand stimulates the imagination, considerabily more than any mere plush bear. It removes love and friendship from the realm of disposable emotions.”
