Haug

“Stuff” is one of those words in English that has so many meanings it almost defies definition. The word itself derives from the 14th century French word “stuffe,” which from my online etymological dictionary meant “quilted material worn under chain mail.” As someone who writes books set in the medieval period, I find that really cool.

From there, the word evolved to mean goods or supplies, and then any material property. By the mid-15th century, it also meant “substance or matter of an unspecified kind, physical or abstract.” At that point, “stuff” became whatever we wanted it to mean, including referring to what we, ourselves, are made of.

“He’s made of sterner stuff” became a high compliment, defined by the Collins dictionary as someone who is “capable of overcoming difficulties and problems.” It appears in this context in Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy Julius Caesar.”

It is that use that prompted this article. On the one hand, material “stuff” is all around us and is something we have tons of!

On the other hand, we as individuals are on a constant quest to be made of strong “stuff” ourselves, and to bring to the fore that inner strength to which Shakespeare referred in his play.

This is ironic, since this second meaning of “stuff” is diametrically opposed to the first. Our inner “stuff” for which we strive — purpose, love, integrity, determination, honor — cannot be gained by pursuing and accumulating external “stuff.”

In fact, if we focus too much on the acquisition of “stuff,” we reduce our ability to acquire the real “stuff” that is important. We live in the most technologically and materially advanced society that has ever existed. “Stuff” is all around us. Even some religious doctrines promote the acquisition of “stuff” as a sign of God’s grace.

Maybe it can be, but as the Baha’i Writings say: “You see all around you proofs of the inadequacy of material things … how joy, comfort, peace and consolation are not to be found in the transitory things of the world.” That isn’t to say we should live in squalor or become ascetic. “It is indeed a good and praiseworthy thing to progress materially, but in so doing, let us not neglect the more important spiritual progress, and close our eyes to the Divine light shining in our midst.”

While there is nothing wrong with being materially comfortable, it is only by not focusing on material things that our inner self can be fully realized, and we too can be, like Julius Caesar’s ambition, “made of sterner stuff.”