Do you have any personal totems?

Thaed

Do you imbue any of your personal objects with importance in a way that the object gives you comfort? Do you then turn to that object as an anchor to reality or as a point of security in times of stress? Or perhaps you might have a lucky object that you carry such as a rabbit's foot or clover symbol?

Gadget watches fall into this category for me. With a gadget watch, I always have something to play with even if I can't use my laptop or Blackberry or iPod (which I suppose are also totem items).

What are your totems and what do they mean to you?

jcc

So what items do I turn to to help me relax in times of extreme stress? Or are you asking something else?

Victor Frost

I guess mine would be my grandfathers old abacus. It's always around in my room and when ever I feel stressed I just plop down and just start flicking at it. I've had ever since he died ten years ago, so I guess it's something that reminds me of him. Other than that, I guess my laptop would be my totem since I've spent much of my life on the internet.

Schnevets

I once went on a camping trip which included a turkey roast. To roast the turkey, we made a "dutch oven" which involved making a tepee out of a few rolls of aluminum foil. After everything was finished, I was in charge of cleaning the oven, so I made an aluminum foil ball (the foil never touched the turkey, by the way). That ball, which is a little bigger than a basketball and about 3 times as heavy, is still in my room, and whenever I'm under stress, I tend to toss it around.
I feel like that is the epitome of a totem. Primitive, insignificant to anyone but yourself, and yet it gains personal value with every "use."

Thaed

Sonic and Socha have exactly identified what I'm looking for here.

gomidog

I am actually pretty superstitious when it comes to good luck charms.

• I had a lucky pencil that I would use during tests and hold when I wanted luck. I ended up losing it in 6th grade.
• I have a necklace with the first 50 yen piece my father gave me when I was a child. I wear it when I travel.
• I have a four leaf clover laminated with tape to an index card that my sister gave me when I was feeling stressed out. I carry it around in my wallet and look at it when I feel worried.
• I have a "lucky outfit" - a shirt with two rabbits, rampant, on it. A navy hoodie with dragons on the sleeves that I got when I was 13 and that I lost in the band room, then subsequently found around the waist of another girl (she was nice and gave it back). A batik sarong patterned like the night sky, with little blue stars on it. All three are "lucky items," but when worn together they are extra lucky.
• I have a "Pass Exams" charm that my teacher in Japan gave me, from a local shrine.

These are some of my totems. As you can see, I like lucky things.

Alex

I have a stuffed tonberry (a monster from the Final Fantasy games) that I traditionally place on the dashboard of my car whenever I go on a major trip, something like a figurehead.

Apreche

I have many lesser totems, but no major ones.

Victor Frost

• I have a necklace with the first 50 yen piece my father gave me when I was a child. I wear it when I travel.

I had something similar. It was one of those chinese coins that supposedly bring luck and prosperity. I kept it in my wallet for a while, but then I lost the wallet.

Kate Monster

I have many sentimental items that I keep (mostly possessions that once belonged to another family member or were gifts from loved ones). However, I cannot think of a single item that I would consider a totem. Most of my worldly possessions (and I have far too many) have a connection to someone I love, and they act like photographs or memory keepers, and those memories produce emotional responses such as comfort, joy, or longing - but that is a direct product of the memory and only an indirect product of the item. This also makes me a bit of a pack rat because so much of what I own feels like a connection to person or a point in time.
EDIT: All of my sentimental possessions are still just stuff, and while it would be a bit sad to lose them, I wouldn't lose the memories and the feelings they relate to, so I would be just fine.

TheWhaleShark

For the most part, I don't attach sentimentality to objects, as my memories and emotions have more permanence than most objects. I do, however, collect tokens of times gone by, sort of like making a road map of where my life has gone. It doesn't bring me comfort per se, but the things can make for interesting topics of conversation.

Usually, when I'm stressed out, I either work out or do some other physical activity, listen to some really loud and obnoxious metal, or commit galactic genocide in MOO3. That, or have a beer. I try not to drink in response to stress, but every now and again I'll have a beer to help unwind in conjunction with other things.

edifolco25

Not sure if this counts, but I recently found the importance of my DS and old school games to me. Recently my dad was in the hospital due to a stroke, very minor he's doing well now, but he did require a few surgeries and was in the hospital for nearly three weeks. During many stressful waiting periods, I played lots of old school NES games such as Megaman 2-6, Legend of Zelda 1 and 2, and others, and they managed to keep my stress in check.

It was more then just something to keep my mind preoccupied, they were almost comforting in a way. Don't know if "old Nintendo games" are too abstract an idea as a totem, but I'm very thankful I had them at any rate.

Omnutia

I thought I had none then I remembered the box of letters and photographs I have from my time in Japan.

Shiam

Probably the closest things are a few items I tend to carry. I carry some bells with a metal jolly roger attached, and wear a Mjollnir pendant/necklace. Beyond that not much really just lots of little things that have some sentimental value, nothing I'd really think of as a totem.

Mosquitoboy

I have things I enjoy looking at, but I wouldn't call them totems. They just bring back fun memories. Like a Broken cosplay from when I was a kid, or a pin I got from cub scouts that was meaningful to me back then. Nothing totem-esk though.

HungryJoe

The charcoal pin stripe suit I wore on the second day of the Bar, the three-piece suit I wore when Carole and I renewed our vows, my briefcase, photos of my dogs, a Churchill Crown, and a Captain Marvel figure.

Luke Burrage

Do you imbue any of your personal objects with importance in a way that the object gives you comfort? Do you then turn to that object as an anchor to reality or as a point of security in times of stress? Or perhaps you might have a lucky object that you carry such as a rabbit's foot or clover symbol?

Sounds strange, but my personal totem is my wallet. I certainly turn to it often in times of stress, it has a lot of importance and it gives me comfort. But there are levels to this. Out of all my possessions (except for maybe some junk in my parent's loft) it is the one thing I've owned the longest. I bought it when I was 12 and I'm now 28, so it has been with me for more than half my life.

In it I have some pictures of family members, a few scraps of paper with notes that mean something important to me, that kind of thing. There is a clear plastic panel inside to which is stuck a reflective star given to me by a girl I really liked but never dated in school, a sticker of a heart from my current girlfriend and some other stickers with other memories attached. It also contains a half coin, the other half which I posted to my first and only internet girlfriend, the idea being we would join the halves of the coin when met for the first time... which of course never came to pass, mainly because any internet relationship is dumb, and this one was dumber than most considering the girl didn't actually exist and was someone playing a practical joke on me... yeah, I keep that coin to remind me that there are some seriously screwed up people out there and that I shouldn't be an idiot. It has various currencies from around the world to remind me of places I've been, and I used to use one place to hold an emergency condom, so more good memories attached there too.

And it is a real handy place to store cash and cards.

It is getting seriously tattered around the edges now though, but I'm reluctant to replace it with anything else.

...

*considers being a dick and saying "My man parts, for without it, I would not be a man!"* I don't really have a Totem of sorts though. It's interesting to read all these replies though.

Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)

I think the closest I have to a totem is a large ("actual-size") stuffed pikachu that my sister gave me for Christmas in 1st or 2nd grade. Nowadays, I use it as a pillow.
either that, or the 6-year old backpack that I had to retire last year.

Li_Akahi

I have three coins that I bought at my local Renaissance Festival on a necklace. The first one has the Phoenix on one side and Sagittarius on the other, the second one has the Imperial Dragon and the Ankh, and the third has the fox and the owl. All of them mean something and I feel that they boost me in those ways.

Mamath

I don't know if a sketchbook is really a totem but I guess if gadget watches and laptops are then a sketchbook is too. It has the same purpose - I always have something to do and I try to take a sketchbook everywhere with me. I get pretty upset when I lose one. The attachment isn't to a particular book though since they change every six months or so... Maybe having multiple sketchbooks means I have multiple totem items.

Kazuo

I have a little raichu that I have no idea how I got, but I used to pretend that it was a personal totem. I put it on top of my desktop speakers and when anyone touches it I pretend to freak out. I say something like, "You don't touch the Raichu. Put him down. He belongs there!" I would just repeat that until the raichu was put in his proper place. In a way I have grown accustomed to raichu staring at me while I'm on my computer and it kind of became a personal totem. I need to think of a good name for my raichu now that I think about it...

Andrew

I almost always have a Rubik's cube on my desk. I mess around with it whenever I'm working on a problem.

theknoxinator

I'd probably have to say my water bottle is the closest thing to a totem I have. I got it when I first got to college (which was four years ago now), and it's been my main vessel of liquid life ever since. I feel weird when I don't have it around, so I would be very upset if I were to ever lose it.

Kazuo

I almost always have a Rubik's cube on my desk. I mess around with it whenever I'm working on a problem.

I do too. I never figured out the last layer and I can't remember how the internet told me to do it, so mine is always half finished. It's kind of sad. I would memorize the instructions on how to do the last layer, but it kind of feels like cheating.

Viga

I think the closest thing to be my totem would be my purple hair. It's sounds silly but besides wearing it to be anime-ish it actually gives me a bit more confidence. I feel more relaxed and outgoing. Maybe a bit stronger when around people. Plus much prettier too. When I'm wearing it I'm like, "This is the Viga I am!"

trogdor9

I never go anywhere without my iPod. Ever. Even if I know I will never use it, the fear of being bored without my iPod is so deeply ingrained that I can't go anywhere without it.

I also have an awesome (Jack Rackham) pirate flag on my bedroom wall.

Lusankya

I have a fixation with slide rules. Particularly, my grandpa used to be a SAR pilot back in the days when an HP electronic calculator cost as much as a refrigerator. He always used slide rules for everything, and almost every photo of him features a rule hanging off his belt. He passed away before I was born, but my nana handed me his slide rule in junior high, when I decided I wanted to be an engineer. Nana told me about how grandpa wanted to be an engineer, but his parents were very rigid and set in the "soldier-or-farmer" mentality. Ever since then I always keep a slide rule at my desk, and I try out a new formula on both my rule and my calculator to ensure I understand where my numbers are coming from.

Another fun story: When I was in high school I did extremely well in physics. I bet my friends ten dollars each that, without a calculator, I could score higher than them on a test. Thinking I was a shit-talker, all but one accepted. I walked in with my slide rule and walked out with fifty dollars waiting for me.

La Petit Mort

I always carry the guitar pick I had on my first gig, it's been in and out of my wallet since '99.

Geo

I have things I enjoy looking at, but I wouldn't call them totems. They just bring back fun memories. Like a Broken cosplay from when I was a kid, or a pin I got from cub scouts that was meaningful to me back then. Nothing totem-esk though.

How dare you misspell "ESQUE", not E-S-K. That's like misspelling queue, you can never be forgiven (at least by Rym).