I'm secretly judging you. No, seriously, I am. I don't even have to talk to you to do it. I can walk past your office and see the crayon drawings and ceramic cats on your shelves to know you are a (grand)parent and cat lover. I can pass you on the street, see you in a monogrammed blue polo and khakis texting on your iPhone, and I know you work at Best Buy and probably bought that phone with your employee discount. You may not have, and maybe you dressed like that to be ironic. I don't know, but I'm going to assume and think that way anyway. And this is what I look for - I've trained myself to hone in on the details.
As a writer, I view details as the most important part, which is why I believe that what you own, or rather, what you buy is an extension of yourself. Your stuff generates an impression on others - whether you want it to or not. I don't think people quite understand this concept, which is why I'm going to attempt to explain it.
Let's imagine I introduced you to my friend Steve. When you see Steve, he is wearing a plain white t-shirt, blue jeans, and no shoes on his feet. He is standing in white space, not a white room, but white space. (Remember this is imaginary). Now, if this is all you see/know about Steve, how can you create an opinion about him? I mean, maybe if you talked to him you could create an idea in your head that is Steve. But without saying even a simple hello, you can deduce very little about him. Most of us, after all, are not Sherlock Holmes.
Now let's imagine you meet Aaron. He is wearing a tailored, European cut, dark grey, pinstripe suit. He wears turquoise socks to match his tie. He wears caramel-colored leather shoes. He sits in a black pleather chair, with papers and files stacked in stacks, some of which are slightly askew on and around his desk. There are a few books on a single bookshelf along with a miniature statues of Buddha and Osiris. The shades are closed, and there are no pictures or framed diplomas on the wall. Notice I only described the area and Aaron's clothing. I did not use words like "messy" or "neat". I didn't use any words to describe Aaron or his personality. But what did you deduce from this description?
Here are some possible answers. Based on the description of Aaron's suit, he probably cares about his appearance. And if he cares about his appearance that much, he probably exercises, pays attention to fashion trends, or spends a lot on his wardrobe. He has a lot of papers on his desk, which could mean he has a desk job, maybe an important job. The stacks of papers and files means he has a lot of work, and he is fairly organized, but not quite OCD enough to fix the askew papers. He also has a few books, which may be all he needs. And the mini statues could be from vacations, which could mean he travels a lot - maybe to really unique places. Or maybe he just went to Orlando. The closed shades could mean it's sunny, or maybe he just likes florescent light. And the lack of decoration on the walls (as well as the fact that I pointed out that something is missing) could mean that he doesn't want to spend a lot of time there. Maybe he doesn't spend a lot of time there. Maybe he just doesn't see decorating his office as important. I could go on.
But see? In six sentences I described a scene with a person, in his work habitat. And all those deductions, plus quite a few more, made an impression on you, and you created an idea of who Aaron is in your mind, and you've never met him. Steve, on the other hand, was a lot harder to deduce, because there was virtually no "stuff" around him from which to glean information.
We all do it. Silently. Secretly. We can't help it. But the reason I point it out, is to remind everyone that the details are important. And sometimes, it's important to put on jeans and flip-flops instead of pajama pants and slippers to go to the grocery store. :)
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