I had a big shock recently. My kids don’t want my stuff. “Oh, you can go ahead & give it to someone else or just put it in a garage sale,” they said.
I hadn’t realized that over the years I had developed a design style called “Garage Sale.” In my mind, it’s called “Nostalgia.” It features a neutral background with a splash of memories on all the walls and shelves.
A polymer thank you rose from Craig, Old Glory that Brook flew over Afghanistan, a picture of the 1995-96 Lady Rams basketball team, David’s Wicked playbill, an empty green Perrier bottle from Paris, Kathy’s hand-painted Christmas card, my grandma’s sauerkraut crock, stones retrieved from the Bay of Naples, my dad’s wings from WWII, Misty’s counted-cross stitch…
I guess not everyone wants “heirlooms-to-be” cluttering their house like me. For sure, it would be a boring world if we were all the same, but it’s still hard for me to believe my daughters don’t want my salt & pepper shakers and my pine cone collection. (Wink)
It’s interesting to note that the Myers-Briggs Personality Test identifies people as Thinkers and Feelers -- those who are more logic-centered and those who are more emotion-centered. According to Erica Hepper, Ph.D, nostalgia is actually a feeling. She explains, "Nostalgia is the warm, fuzzy emotion that we feel when we think about fond memories from our past.”
It is not surprising then that aging Feelers like me surround themselves with stuff that reminds them of people, places and experiences they have loved. I guess some of us like to enjoy a moment -- both as it happens -- and then AGAIN as a moment-O.
I have accepted that today’s young people like the Minimalist style and that someday my stuff will be on garage sale tables spread across the front yard. But I really want you to know, when my family goes to put one of those ugly little $.25 stickers on my second place golf trophy, my Spirit’s going to rise up & shout in their ears, “Even that moment was Priceless.”
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, then what are we to think of an empty desk?”
~ Albert Einstein
Please share: DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL MOMENTO THAT YOU CHERISH?
Aunt Bess’s tea cup
It's funny, my mother and I are having the same conversation. She is a collector of EVERYTHING! When I suggest a purge it turns her world upside down.🙃 But, I must confess, that when we are going through her things, her face lights up, the transformation begins, she is back in that moment, re-living that time. The stories are truly magical! I believe I understand the importance of her holding on. It's a part of her, her legacy, her history....hard to ask someone to give that up. So I will stay with my mom, in all her "history" putting my angst aside. I will share her memories and listen to her stories until there are stories no more.❤
What an interesting piece! To be honest, it was very surprising to hear that the kids don't want to make sure that mom's cherished little treasures have a home when the time comes. I am like you. I surround myself with things that have special memories and can say with certainty that this is the stuff that gets me through life. I do work hard to keep clutter at a minimum, but it's not easy! Ah, Nostalgia. I couldn't live without it. DO I HAVE A SPECIAL MOMENTO THAT I CHERISH? Don't know where to begin, I have so many. I'm looking around trying to narrow it down to just one...hmmm. OK, the Crucifix that was above my parents' bed for the entire duration of their marriage. Sorry, I am tearing up a little at that one....