I’m a collector.
I know this. I’ve known it since I started giving in to my compulsion to gather all the hubcaps I saw lying on the side of the road I biked along to get to Junior High. I gather things and hang onto them, regardless of whether I might need them later. Then, if I do need them later, I can’t find the damn things because they’re mixed in with all my other clutter. It pisses me off. But the thought of getting rid of something totally cool and then not having it when I want it bothers me.
So I’ve subscribed to the Discardian blog. I’m not actually doing any of the things she suggests, mind you, but just reading them regularly is helping to get me acclimatized to the Discardian way (that’s Discardian, not Discordian, by the way).
I like simplicity and organization, but I also like my things. I like my book collection. I like my CD collection. My DVD collection. My clothes.
But I own at least fifty tshirts I never, ever wear. Many of them don’t fit anymore. I’m toying with the idea of laying them out and photographing them and putting the pix on Flickr with their stories, and then binding a little book or something. I don’t want to lose the memento, you see, but I also am tired of having all these tshirts around when I never wear them. I want that space they’re taking up, dammit! I should really do the same thing with some of the dolls and toys in storage. I don’t use them and they could go to a needy kid at a shelter or something, for pete’s sake. I don’t need to schlepp the toy around to have the memory, do I? This is an idea I got from this Discardian entry, and I think it’s actually a pretty good one. Save a handful of stuffed toys I really, truely love, and give the rest away.
Similarly, I have craft supplies I don’t have time to use. Knitting is the only craft I really do any more, but I have beads and modelmaking supplies from years and years ago. I have a bitchin’ Lego collection that I don’t know what to do with. I don’t have the space to display ’em, but I can’t quite bear to get rid of them all. I love my Legos! AUGH!
I can excuse keeping my Star Wars action figures because they’re essentially a retirement plan. But I have so many toys… I moved twenty boxes of crap from my parents’ garage to the garage at my new place. This is stupid. STUPID! I do not want to do this the next time I move. I have to do something.
Lately I’ve been feeling hamster-fitty, and I think it’s because I know in the back of my mind that I have all this crap I don’t need and that’s what’s causing all the clutter. I’ve set a date with my roomie to clean out our garage, and I intend to keep it. Maybe if I keep reading Discardian stuff, I’ll manage to actually get rid of a lot of that stuff out there.
(the Discardian site appears to be down at the moment; hopefully it will be back soon)
