Are you a collector of things?

 I guess the first question you may ask is what do I mean about ‘things’?   When I started to ask myself about this thought, I smiled.  You see, I am moving very shortly from Southern California to the Coast of Florida and as I started to pack and pack and pack some more I began to question all those ‘things’ that I am either planning to get rid of or take with me to my new home. 

Now don’t get me wrong—I have collected some beautiful ‘things’ or you might say treasures during my lifetime but now as this process is becoming a huge ordeal, I started to wonder if all of those ‘things’ were really important.

I must admit that I have some beautiful paintings, ceramic vases and even other unusual art pieces but at the end of the day, I need to remind myself that they are still just ‘things.’

This is not the first time I gave this subject some thought, you see, many years ago I had on display a beautifully painted china dish on an end table in my home.  One day my husband was carrying something and brushed by the table and yes, the beautiful ceramic dish fell off the table and broke.  He stopped in his steps with a shocked look on his face not knowing what I was going to say.  To tell you the truth, even I was surprised by my words.  I said:  “ Don’t be upset it is just a thing!”  Yes, of course I enjoyed looking at this piece of artwork and yes, I was sad to see it broken but at the end of the day, it is simply just a ‘thing.’ 

We all have some beautiful treasures, artwork, memorabilia and simply little ‘things’ that allow us to stop for a moment and reflect on that special instant when we received that ‘thing.’  But at the end of our lives here on earth when we have a review of who we are and what we accomplished or achieved, I wonder if all of these ‘things’ really matter? 

I realize that we enjoy collecting things and admiring them as they grace our home or office,  that is why I have so many things to move or get rid of now that I am packing.  I even have some things that were given to me from my parents and I have been saving them to hand down to my grandchildren.  So you see, I guess I am teaching them how to become a collector of ‘things’ too. 

So as I am trying to make sense of all of the ‘things’ that I own, I have decided to hold onto those ‘things’ that give me joy and pleasure when I walk past them or see them but for all of those other things that are stored in boxes and don’t seem to see the light of day, I figure, I can get rid of them.  After all, those ‘things’ are only collecting storage space so I might as well give them to someone else who can have the pleasure of enjoying their ‘things’ just like the rest of us. 


 Joan Marie Ambrose

Author, Creative Writer, Motivational Speaker