Collections

 Why DO we collect things?

Here is what Google told me:

"Knowledge and learning. Relaxation and stress reduction. Personal pleasure (including appreciation of beauty, and pride of ownership) Social interaction with fellow collectors and others (i.e. the sharing of pleasure and knowledge)"

 Or, under the heading: "The Psychology of Collecting"

"Collecting can be seen as a form of self-expression, identity construction, social interaction, emotional regulation, cognitive stimulation, or aesthetic appreciation. However, collecting can also have negative aspects, such as compulsiveness, hoarding, addiction, or isolation.Sep 26, 2023"

 Over the years it has always made me wonder, and as I age and look back on the things I have collected, especially as relates to having lived here in Missouri, I think it's more just personal pleasure for myself and those I have known.

The other day I was cleaning the little nook above the fridge, where I just toss things I have no clue what to do with at the moment.  When I "clean" I will move them about without thinking about them.  But lately I have been deliberately pondering the things I have in the house, and wondering; "What in the samhill have I been THINKING?"  Hahaha...

This is what I found up on the fridge shelf nook:

Over the years of tossing grain to the cows I had found them in and around the feed bunks and just picked them up and put them in a Ziplock baggie.  When I did Bright Smiles with Ellen's class in grade school I'd bring them to show what happens to your teeth when you don't brush.  But wasn't one enough for that, why did I just keep collecting them?  I've no idea.  After taking this picture, I gave them back to the wild by tossing them back behind my iris patch. 

I know throughout the years here I have posted pictures of terrapin shells, odd rocks and other sorts of whatnots I collect, or used to collect.  The shells were just for curiosity sake, I think, not having had them on the West coast growing up. I still have a few of them, the unusual ones.  The rocks were because I wanted them for my garden.  Now, as much as I can control myself, I leave things where I find them. I do still have my odd rock collection, and probably will continue to add it from time to time with a special one that I can add to the garden landscape.  But for the most part I just take a photo to add to Facebook and then leave it where I found it.  

My mom had a ceramic zebra collection.  She recalled that when she was in her 20s living in S. California her cousin told her that she needed to start a collection.  So she started in with the zebras.  Upon her death I sent them out to different members of the family who said they would like one to keep in memory of her.  I did this as a memorial to her.  Now, even though we are all hundreds of miles apart, we are call connected by her zebras, in a fanciful way.  It never occurred to me to keep them all tucked away in a box somewhere.  They need to be out and enjoyed, as much as possible.  

When I was in Portland, OR, well over 20 years ago, I decided that if my mom was going to collect zebras, then I would collect turtles and giraffes.  I have not collected as many of either as she did of her zebras, but I have a few on display.  I have one turtle that I bought in Malaysia.  He is on my kitchen counter, hanging out with my house plants.  I have a couple of wooden giraffes on display, and a couple others that I have no idea what they are made of; they are shiny.  I shall keep them for the time being, but will likely give them away eventually.  Or let Ellen decide what to do with them when I am gone.

The one thing I shall continue unabashedly to collect are iris bulbs and I shall plant them all over. The psychology behind this is personal pleasure, to be sure, but to me it is as much about shooting arrows into the future. Oh yes.  I know that one day I will be gone.  Maybe at one point every building on this place will no longer be here.  But unless someone with an iris grudge comes along and digs them all up, they will come back year after year and add their color to the Spring palette.  That gives me joy.

Last Spring I cleaned the irises out of one of these garden beds.  I gave a few away, but didn't want the rest to just rot somewhere, so I planted them out in the trees across the road from us.  I notice that they have survived.  They have put up greenery.  I think I shall keep doing that.  Next fall when I thin the irises I will take some with me on my walks with the dog and just plant them around in random mysterious places.  A hundred years from now people will be out walking and maybe find them randomly blooming in the middle of nowhere, where no house could ever possibly have been.  Then they will wonder how in the world they got there.  Haha..  

I amuse myself. 

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