Ruminations about having too much stuff
Dec. 2nd, 2004 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moonwiseSssso. Last night, while my husband slept off his cold on the couch, I spent a large amout of time in the attic choosing what to keep and what to put in the Give-Away Bag.
There are a number of big blue containers in the attic that I purchased and filled with my stuff when I got married. Mostly books, but there's also the Beanie Baby collection, stuffed animals, piles of VHS tapes, rolls of cross-stitching fabric, comic books... things I'm not using, but I don't want to get rid of.
Here's the problem.
In my heart, I know it's time to get rid of some things. Like... the Beanie Babies. There are a couple fairly "valuable" ones stuffed in there, and I could probably get a couple hundred dollars for them, but then... I wouldn't have them any more. This is the pack rat's problem. I might not have opened the box in four years, might never look at whatever-it-is again, but parting with it means it's no longer mine and what if I regret it later?
What's worse is letting go of something someone gave me, even if I didn't like it then and don't like it now. For example: Kirill (my paramour at Princeton who was going to leave his wife of seven years and marry me, only problem was that I 1. had a longtime boyfriend and 2. wasn't the least bit interested) gave me a stuffed kitty for my birthday. The kitty is very cute, grey and soft and floppy. I never wanted any presents from him, but there was the conflict of "Oh, cute kitty toy!" vs. "Kirill gave it to me and I don't want anything to do with him ever again."
It went into work today, along with a couple other toys, and I saw someone carrying the stuffed kitty down the hallway. Even though I put it out in the hopes that some child would enjoy it - even though I never wanted the cat in the first place - I still almost ran after the guy and to ask for it back. Because, once he took it, it wouldn't be mine any more. And I like having things.
Aside from Stuffed Animal Angst, there are boxes of knickknacks up in the attic that adorned my walls when I was single. It's sad to look into them, because they ended up having no place in my current apartment, and it reminds me of when it wasn't a matter of how we wanted things to look, just how I wanted things to look. It's like I packed up a piece of my personality and put it away, because whether you like it or not, time passes and you'll grow up. I'm not going to hold a dinner party and have everyone admire my action figures and Star Wars posters.
That's the way it should be, I suppose. There gets to a point where one is too old to behave in a certain way and not look stupid. You might have your action figure collection in a nice case in the basement, your anime DVDs neatly lined up in a cabinet, but they shouldn't be the primary focus of your life any more.
Brought some anime up into the attic once I'd unloaded other things. The "Should I Sell" question is looming for Excel Saga and a couple other Vol. 1's that didn't catch on w/me, like Get Backers. Kind of humorous, since I went to the GameStop a couple weeks ago and traded in a bunch of stuff (and I STILL can't get rid of Darkside Blues!)
On to happier things. I did make TWO major Treasure Finds.
1. the jewelry box I thought I'd lost with my silver choker, rosebud earrings, and dragonfly set
2. Husband's missing car key and booper fob
So that was good. I also found husband's polymer samples, and he was thrilled. Onward.
There are a number of big blue containers in the attic that I purchased and filled with my stuff when I got married. Mostly books, but there's also the Beanie Baby collection, stuffed animals, piles of VHS tapes, rolls of cross-stitching fabric, comic books... things I'm not using, but I don't want to get rid of.
Here's the problem.
In my heart, I know it's time to get rid of some things. Like... the Beanie Babies. There are a couple fairly "valuable" ones stuffed in there, and I could probably get a couple hundred dollars for them, but then... I wouldn't have them any more. This is the pack rat's problem. I might not have opened the box in four years, might never look at whatever-it-is again, but parting with it means it's no longer mine and what if I regret it later?
What's worse is letting go of something someone gave me, even if I didn't like it then and don't like it now. For example: Kirill (my paramour at Princeton who was going to leave his wife of seven years and marry me, only problem was that I 1. had a longtime boyfriend and 2. wasn't the least bit interested) gave me a stuffed kitty for my birthday. The kitty is very cute, grey and soft and floppy. I never wanted any presents from him, but there was the conflict of "Oh, cute kitty toy!" vs. "Kirill gave it to me and I don't want anything to do with him ever again."
It went into work today, along with a couple other toys, and I saw someone carrying the stuffed kitty down the hallway. Even though I put it out in the hopes that some child would enjoy it - even though I never wanted the cat in the first place - I still almost ran after the guy and to ask for it back. Because, once he took it, it wouldn't be mine any more. And I like having things.
Aside from Stuffed Animal Angst, there are boxes of knickknacks up in the attic that adorned my walls when I was single. It's sad to look into them, because they ended up having no place in my current apartment, and it reminds me of when it wasn't a matter of how we wanted things to look, just how I wanted things to look. It's like I packed up a piece of my personality and put it away, because whether you like it or not, time passes and you'll grow up. I'm not going to hold a dinner party and have everyone admire my action figures and Star Wars posters.
That's the way it should be, I suppose. There gets to a point where one is too old to behave in a certain way and not look stupid. You might have your action figure collection in a nice case in the basement, your anime DVDs neatly lined up in a cabinet, but they shouldn't be the primary focus of your life any more.
Brought some anime up into the attic once I'd unloaded other things. The "Should I Sell" question is looming for Excel Saga and a couple other Vol. 1's that didn't catch on w/me, like Get Backers. Kind of humorous, since I went to the GameStop a couple weeks ago and traded in a bunch of stuff (and I STILL can't get rid of Darkside Blues!)
On to happier things. I did make TWO major Treasure Finds.
1. the jewelry box I thought I'd lost with my silver choker, rosebud earrings, and dragonfly set
2. Husband's missing car key and booper fob
So that was good. I also found husband's polymer samples, and he was thrilled. Onward.
