Next to my bed, sits a wooden sailing ship in a bottle. I’ve had it since second grade. My parents bought it at a garage sale in Boston, Massachusetts, where we lived at the time. The model ship looks handcrafted, a simple, home project. It’s not valuable in any sense, but it has survived years and many moves of house. As it sits beside me, I often wonder why I keep it close. I’m not a sentimental person. So why keep it? Yesterday I came to realize that this tiny ship holds more value than I thought.
Idealism Protected
One of the symbolic meanings of a ship in a bottle is idealism protected. Idealism is about dreaming of a better world, wanting something more than we have now. Idealism is like that ship in a bottle: it starts small and fragile, but it’s something beautiful and important that we need to protect. It’s the belief that things can get better, even if it feels hard or unlikely. Without idealism, we are stuck in the past.
Building the Ship: A Delicate Process
Building a ship inside a bottle isn’t easy. It requires patience and a steady hand. There are moments when it feels like the whole thing might fall apart. Or that it’s all in vain. But that’s what makes it meaningful.
Idealism in a Modern World
Even though we don’t use wind-powered ships anymore, they’re still a symbol of human achievement. And that’s something we still need—a reminder of our potential to do great things. In a way, this mirrors the reality of running a record store. The dream requires constant care and protection.
This sense of idealism is reflected in art too. Take, for example, J.M.W. Turner’s painting The Fighting Temeraire. The work shows a tall and majestic white sailing ship, the HMS Temeraire, towed by a rudely short steam-powered tug, marking the end of the age of sail and the rise of steam-powered industrialization. The tall ship represents an ideal of the past—an era of exploration, craftsmanship, and human achievement. The tugboat, unstoppable progress.
The Struggle to Keep the Dream Alive
With the announcement of the closure of two record stores in Brisbane this month, I’ve had my doubts about Glitter Records, my store. As my online store grows—more than a 2000% increase in inventory this year, for example—I’ve wrestled with the tension between the digital world’s endless possibilities for growth and what my small, physical space can offer. The digital realm provides infinite variety, while my 12-meter-square store can only hold so many records. Customers often come in expecting a vast inventory shaped by their online shopping experiences. But the reality is different. It’s easy to wonder if the dream is still worth it.
The Value of Idealism
Idealism, the kind worth holding onto, is about protection. It’s about safeguarding something abstract from being overtaken by the practical, the mundane, and the easy. Glitter Records is a place where the idea of a physical, communal connection to music still exists. And that ideal needs protecting.
Idealism is not about dreaming up unattainable visions. It’s about fighting to keep the best that is in us and that can come from us alive. This idealism drives Glitter Records and it requires protection from the pressures of modern life.
The Record Store as an Ideal Form
Plato, in his philosophy, spoke of ideal forms—perfect versions of things that exist beyond the imperfections of our physical world. The record store is a kind of ideal form in that sense. A representation of something pure and timeless. The records on my shelves are more than just products to be sold. They are my ships in bottles—pieces of culture, history, and art that need to be preserved. Just like the ship inside the bottle, which needs protection from the elements, my ideal needs protection from the pressures of running a small business. It also needs protection from the changing habits of consumers and the economic forces that threaten it.
Preserving Idealism: A Fragile But Worthwhile Effort
In the end, Glitter Records itself is idealism protected. It’s an attempt to preserve something beautiful in a world that often seems indifferent. Like a ship in a bottle, it’s a fragile thing. It may never be perfect, but it’s worth the effort to keep it alive, to keep it safe, and to keep it sailing.
