All My Stuff
Jul. 25th, 2009 10:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kokopelleI have a lot of odd stuff. My interests in life lay in electronics, computers, software and books. To that end I have an enormous collection of both. Most of it, in the high 90% range, was purchased used. Why? I am a closet shopoholic. Thrift stores are my heaven. Fortunately my mate feels the same way! My stashed book collection would instantly fill a mid size bookstore. Of course that is the intention in a future incarnation of this life. Some collections don't take up as much room as books do. I have over commercial 50,000 songs stashed away and over 180,000 pictures I've taken over the past three years.
The question is: so what? I can't take this stuff with me when I'm not here. The irony of the situation is that is that part of me would very much like not to be here, and yet I collect things that won't transfer onward. The answer seems to be multi-fold. The first is that I get great satisfaction from finding wonderful treasures while shopping. It is an addiction of sorts. Secondly, I have a satisfaction of enjoying the treasures while I am still alive. So what if I can't take them with me? Perhaps that is not the point.
The challenge comes in from the redundancy of items and sheer numbers of treasures, and the ability to not "use" them all. This opens the door to a weird kind of guilt. The guilt is assuaged with a thought that I am an ever evolving person, and the things I bought/obtained in the past do not have a fixed hold over my changing person. While I do face the challenge of storing or removing the things that no longer call to me, they should not hold a gravitational pull on my psyche.
What is the next steps? I probably will not stop shopping as it is such a joyful part of my life. I could/should divest myself of redundant or obsolete objects. This would allow future treasures to enter my life, and allow me to more fully utilize the meaningful treasures I already have. Sounds like a game plan! Now how do I carry it out? (smile)
The question is: so what? I can't take this stuff with me when I'm not here. The irony of the situation is that is that part of me would very much like not to be here, and yet I collect things that won't transfer onward. The answer seems to be multi-fold. The first is that I get great satisfaction from finding wonderful treasures while shopping. It is an addiction of sorts. Secondly, I have a satisfaction of enjoying the treasures while I am still alive. So what if I can't take them with me? Perhaps that is not the point.
The challenge comes in from the redundancy of items and sheer numbers of treasures, and the ability to not "use" them all. This opens the door to a weird kind of guilt. The guilt is assuaged with a thought that I am an ever evolving person, and the things I bought/obtained in the past do not have a fixed hold over my changing person. While I do face the challenge of storing or removing the things that no longer call to me, they should not hold a gravitational pull on my psyche.
What is the next steps? I probably will not stop shopping as it is such a joyful part of my life. I could/should divest myself of redundant or obsolete objects. This would allow future treasures to enter my life, and allow me to more fully utilize the meaningful treasures I already have. Sounds like a game plan! Now how do I carry it out? (smile)
