hunter-gathers….
I have this strong urge to collect, to document, to preserve. Long ago it was “garaging” with my neighbor. Before that, it was Goodwill. My clothing allowance ($3 a month in high school) could really stretch. Mom’s comments of “don’t you deserve better than that?” didn’t stop the visits. She came around, though. Now, both my mom and dad buy from The Hospice thrift store and are proud of their bargains!!
Rocks… as a child, picking them up and pocketing them every time we stopped somewhere. In seventh grade, I actually did a science project on rocks, and spent some time with a neighbor’s grandpa learning about rock cutting and polishing, and what different rocks were used for. Fascinating. I learned I was a “rock hound”. If not for the era (the sixties) I might have pursued a career having to do with rocks but instead dutifully enrolled in secretarial courses as recommended by my advisor. Massive Fail. The thinking at the time was that girls were just going to get married so why go to college. We’ve come so far in so many ways. And yet…. well that’s another post.
Collections, past and present… fabric. My first job when I was On My Own was in a fabric store. Who could resist 3 yards for a dollar or 50% off remnants? My grandmother and mother had taught me to sew as an eager seven year old. I learned how to pump the treadle just right and made endless clothes for my dolls. I graduated to an electric and a friend took me to buy my own and I made payments of a few dollars a month until, as a wedding present, she paid it off for me. I still have that machine, as well as a few others… another collection. At one time, I sewed or gave away ALL my fabric. Until… I started working in a quilt store. Sigh. Now I am planning projects with fabric again, trying to whittle down my stash.
dolls. The gathering of them is mostly past. I bought porcelain dolls at thrift stores and restored them for awhile. I enjoy rescuing them. Haven’t done anything with them for awhile; trying to figure if I should try to sell them, and how if I did.
owls. I collected owls from when I was pretty small. Tiny ones usually. Now I have a little collection of owls my father has made for me.
craft stuff. oh my. I have been culling a lot of this, but I have a filing cabinet full of papers, card stock, craft instructions. There’s music in there too, and cookbooks. My goal is for all of that to fit in just one filing cabinet, and I am making progress.
rubber stamps. Yes this is a sub-category.
yarn. Also a sub-category, I am currently down to two boxes and a suitcase.
glass jars for canning. I have culled down to one cupboard of canning supplies. I haven’t been doing much except jams and jellies. Next year hoping for pickles again. YUM…
which brings us to cook books. I am down to less than 20. WOO HOO! Scanning and printing out the ones I want to keep, or sometimes just scanning…
pictures and such for hanging on the wall. Too many. But I am sentimental. There’s the card Heidi made, and the painting by a friend. There are the leaves gathered on a trip to Volcano. The map of the hills where I lived. Stained glass done by my uncle, son, and daughter. A painting by my aunt. The “life is a chair full of bowlies” puzzle I did. And of course pictures of children and grandchildren. Much too many. But I can cycle through them, right? The autumn-ish ones in autumn and change to the summery ones. Now to organize them so I can find them when I want to.
Then there are Containers. Baskets. Boxes. Plastic tubs. Suitcases (old ones, Very Decorative.). Many of my craft supplies are corralled in baskets. Looks good.
Pillows. I have about six different sets of bed pillows, not in use all the time. There’s the appliqued one. The green one with the lace heart on it. The two incredibly soft purple corduroy ones. The BRIGHT plaid patchwork ones. The candlewicking ones that were my aunt’s. The ones that match the patchwork quilt that Chandra gave me. They too can be “cycled”. But where do you store all this stuff?? I have the quilt made by my great-grandma. The one my grandma made fell apart. I also had one that my grandma, great grandma and mother made. That one was loved to death. But there are pieces around, I was going to frame and hang…. Then there’s the candlewicking quilt my cousin gave me, that my uncle had and was made by my aunt, mother, and the rest of the Needlers.
The biggest category is Keepsakes. I had to keep clothes the kids wore when tiny. And school pages!! I’ve ditched a lot of them but with five kids… well…
So how does this all fit in with Living Frugally, Decluttering… making space to actually LIVE in the house instead of surrounded by STUFF….
And yes I have dealt with a LOT of stuff. When I moved, I got rid of perhaps 1/3 of all I owned. It was intensely traumatic. Little by little I shove stuff out, in the garbage, to Goodwill. I am not spending much Thrift Store time, and limit myself to things I actually NEED and/or have been looking for. I found some photo holders to use in the slide scanning project. I also bought a Christmas tin with snowmen on it. Oh I didn’t mention the snowmen. Or books. I have gotten rid of boxes and boxes of books. But I brought in a few. These days, I pass them on to my mom, and she donates them to the library. Good system.
So the plan is to just keep on pushing things out the door as I can. There are a few things I have regretted giving up. So I must be careful to be sure. No tossing when angry.
It really helped me to see that gathering-preserving-documenting is just a part of my nature, and not BAD. I use that gift in other ways. Research. I help others with their research. I find things that need a Little Help and restore them, and give them away. That’s the key, the Going Out part. To see my gathering as part of the flow of the river instead of the damming of the lake. To let things go. What kind of steward of the gifts am I if they sit in my closet for 50 years and then go to landfill?? So I agree with myself to just Let Go.
And I sure have been interested in photography. Taking tons of pictures. They don’t clutter up anything but the camera and the computer. 😉
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