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Apr 17, 2021Liked by Drew Austin

This makes me think of the houses that get maintained for magazines like Architectural Digest, or for photoshoots. People live in it, but they also keep it in pristine condition or with immaculate interior decorations so that it can always be featured in new shoots. There's always fresh flowers in the vases, always fresh fruits on the kitchen island. I used to wonder how livable those settings truly are.

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That's interesting, it's like you're exchanging some freedom in order to have better stuff. In all these cases the lived experience converges with the illusion that has to be maintained, and maybe we all internalize those illusions to varying degrees. Also reminds me of this article from a few years ago:

https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/human-props-stay-in-luxury-homes-but-live-like-ghosts/2187417/

"Bob and Dareda Mueller and their three grown sons are, instead, part of an "elite group" of middle-class nomads who have agreed to an outlandish deal. They can live cheaply in this for-sale luxury home if it looks as if they never lived here at all."

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