Somewhere on this planet at the very moment you are reading these words, someone is adding another stamp to their treasured collection of stamps.
At the same exact moment someone else somewhere else is buying yet another salt and pepper set off of Ebay, destined to be displayed proudly on a shelf in their living room with a hundred other salt and pepper sets.
People like to gather things, acquire stuff, collect...anything and everything.
It must be ingrained in the human psyche, this compulsion to collect, catalog, and maintain everything from fossils to ephemera. No doubt there is a link to the hunter/gatherer instinct that allowed our species to survive and thrive.
I'm not immune to the desire. Throughout the years I've collected a number of items that caught my interest, everything from comic books to original cartoons to ticket stubs. Truth be told, that time is somewhat ongoing, as I still collect a lot of the aforementioned and much more - hell, I'm borderline hoarder with a few of the things I just seem to have to have.
The desire to have things, to own things, is an odd thing. Sure, a collection of items that have stable value and can be readily converted into currency is useful, especially as a hedge against inflation, but there are items that I have collected that aren't really useful or of much value, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why I continue to keep them.
The ticket stubs for instance. I have ticket stubs for nearly every sporting event, movie, concert, or show I've ever seen, and truth be told, they are just cluttering up the place.
At one time I even had every paystub, birthday card, and business card I had ever received in a big box stored in the garage. One afternoon, after having to relocate the box yet again, I decided to sort through it and get rid of everything that didn't really mean anything.
It took about two hours, and in the end I had disposed of nearly everything in the big box - except for paystubs from my first job, my highest paying job, and my favorite job, as well as a few business cards that were actually from friends and family members. Oh, and some of the more touching birthday cards.
All told, I went from a big (about 24"X24"X24") box to a shoe box.
I have to find the will and energy to do that again with some of the other things I have packed away around here. Though there is a lot I have that has meaning to me, there is also a lot I have that is really, just junk.
The twelve old cell phones for instance, and the stack of calendars that date back to 1998. Yeah, those need to go.
Just as soon as I get around to it.
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