Hoarding and Collections
Despite all my claims of being a Purger and striving for a more minimalist lifestyle, I recently learned that I am guilty of both of the above. Hoarding and a collection. How did that happen, and why wasn't I aware of it until recently? Well, here's the story...
When I was in high school and middle school I started saving all kinds of paper mementos, cards from friends, notes passed around in class, ticket stubs from movies, paper place mats from restaurants, etc. if it was paper and smallish, it was fair game for being saved. This habit continued on into college and beyond. I managed to keep all these trinkets in a series of shoe boxes stored at the top of our closet, so they really didn't look like clutter at all. And for the most part I had completely forgotten all about them until I cleaned out my closet a few weeks ago. When I came across all these boxes I initially thought "oh, here are my memories, I can't let go of this stuff." but then I realized that in the 7 years we have lived in this house (a record for me) I've never once looked through any of it. I may have added from time to time, but it's not like I have been using these things to reminisce over anything. So I thought, maybe I can just finally let go of this stuff... of my past... and really focus on moving forward. But I felt like that was asking a lot, and I wasn't sure I wanted to part with the scraps of paper just yet. So I waited, and every time I went into my closet I thought about them... Do I really need to save this stuff? What am I saving it for? My initial answer was that it might be good to reread things when Dylan hits his teen years, maybe I can go back through my stuff and see what I was feeling at that age, and then maybe that will help me relate better to what he will go through at that point in his life. But I eventually realized that saving all this crap just so that I can better relate to my child wasn't worth it. First of all, when Dylan is going through the teen years I can always just listen to him and empathize with his emotions and events, instead of trying to project my own teen experiences on him. And second, there's no guarantee that I'd even want to reread that stuff then anyway. Those years were pretty awkward. So this week I decided to finally get rid of those boxes. I opened them all up and pulled out what I wanted to save... I kept a few things, the prayer book my grandmother used on her wedding day and then gave me to use on mine, the pearl necklace my other grandmother gave me for the same reason, and a picture I found of me with my sisters. The rest is gone. And I feel so much better for it. No more hoarding of every scrap of paper that comes into my life :)
So there's my hoarding story... Here's my collection story.
While reading all these minimalist lifestyle websites I've come across several people who have tried to whittle down their personal possessions to just 100 things, or maybe 50 or some small number. Which seems crazy, I mean I have more than 100 things in my silverware drawer for sure. But then I found out that a lot of them don't count things like that since everyone in the household uses them, or they don't count things like bed sheets, they count collections of items as one 1 thing. This doesn't seem very minimal to me. If you say you have 100 things, have 100 things, either that or change the number to reflect a more realistic representation of your things, even if that number is a lot higher like 2,599. Who cares? Anyway, I was telling Matt about this one day and I made a comment about how I don't think people claiming to be minimalist should even have collections. I mean, I had some as a kid, but I've outgrown all of those, and I don't collect anything as an adult... Do I? Matt very quickly said, "yes you do, but yours only comes out once a year."
He was referring to my snow globe collection. Busted. But in my defense, it is a very small collection. Every year, on Black Friday, I meet up with my mom and sisters at the Dulles Mall. JCPenny gives away a small Disney themed snow globe away to anyone who just walks through the door (no purchase necessary). I have one for every year that Matt and I have been married. They're small, like 2-3 inches tall, free, and only come out during the Christmas holiday. If I'm going to collect anything, this seems like a good one to stick with.... So the snow globes stay. On a side note, the only reason I even bother with Black Friday is to get my snow globe. I enjoy the occasion though too, getting some warm Christmas coffee at Starbucks, walking around and seeing all the Christmas decorations, spending time with my sisters and mom. I don't do it for the shopping, but this year we only grabbed a couple books and a small game for Dylan since we were out. But the snow globe kicks off the start of Christmas time for me, so I wouldn't miss out on that. Plus this year we went back to my parents house after shopping for some Belgian waffles and bacon. Yum yum, it was a great day :)
When I was in high school and middle school I started saving all kinds of paper mementos, cards from friends, notes passed around in class, ticket stubs from movies, paper place mats from restaurants, etc. if it was paper and smallish, it was fair game for being saved. This habit continued on into college and beyond. I managed to keep all these trinkets in a series of shoe boxes stored at the top of our closet, so they really didn't look like clutter at all. And for the most part I had completely forgotten all about them until I cleaned out my closet a few weeks ago. When I came across all these boxes I initially thought "oh, here are my memories, I can't let go of this stuff." but then I realized that in the 7 years we have lived in this house (a record for me) I've never once looked through any of it. I may have added from time to time, but it's not like I have been using these things to reminisce over anything. So I thought, maybe I can just finally let go of this stuff... of my past... and really focus on moving forward. But I felt like that was asking a lot, and I wasn't sure I wanted to part with the scraps of paper just yet. So I waited, and every time I went into my closet I thought about them... Do I really need to save this stuff? What am I saving it for? My initial answer was that it might be good to reread things when Dylan hits his teen years, maybe I can go back through my stuff and see what I was feeling at that age, and then maybe that will help me relate better to what he will go through at that point in his life. But I eventually realized that saving all this crap just so that I can better relate to my child wasn't worth it. First of all, when Dylan is going through the teen years I can always just listen to him and empathize with his emotions and events, instead of trying to project my own teen experiences on him. And second, there's no guarantee that I'd even want to reread that stuff then anyway. Those years were pretty awkward. So this week I decided to finally get rid of those boxes. I opened them all up and pulled out what I wanted to save... I kept a few things, the prayer book my grandmother used on her wedding day and then gave me to use on mine, the pearl necklace my other grandmother gave me for the same reason, and a picture I found of me with my sisters. The rest is gone. And I feel so much better for it. No more hoarding of every scrap of paper that comes into my life :)
So there's my hoarding story... Here's my collection story.
While reading all these minimalist lifestyle websites I've come across several people who have tried to whittle down their personal possessions to just 100 things, or maybe 50 or some small number. Which seems crazy, I mean I have more than 100 things in my silverware drawer for sure. But then I found out that a lot of them don't count things like that since everyone in the household uses them, or they don't count things like bed sheets, they count collections of items as one 1 thing. This doesn't seem very minimal to me. If you say you have 100 things, have 100 things, either that or change the number to reflect a more realistic representation of your things, even if that number is a lot higher like 2,599. Who cares? Anyway, I was telling Matt about this one day and I made a comment about how I don't think people claiming to be minimalist should even have collections. I mean, I had some as a kid, but I've outgrown all of those, and I don't collect anything as an adult... Do I? Matt very quickly said, "yes you do, but yours only comes out once a year."
He was referring to my snow globe collection. Busted. But in my defense, it is a very small collection. Every year, on Black Friday, I meet up with my mom and sisters at the Dulles Mall. JCPenny gives away a small Disney themed snow globe away to anyone who just walks through the door (no purchase necessary). I have one for every year that Matt and I have been married. They're small, like 2-3 inches tall, free, and only come out during the Christmas holiday. If I'm going to collect anything, this seems like a good one to stick with.... So the snow globes stay. On a side note, the only reason I even bother with Black Friday is to get my snow globe. I enjoy the occasion though too, getting some warm Christmas coffee at Starbucks, walking around and seeing all the Christmas decorations, spending time with my sisters and mom. I don't do it for the shopping, but this year we only grabbed a couple books and a small game for Dylan since we were out. But the snow globe kicks off the start of Christmas time for me, so I wouldn't miss out on that. Plus this year we went back to my parents house after shopping for some Belgian waffles and bacon. Yum yum, it was a great day :)
Comments