Collecting

The idea for the post comes from Sunday Scribblings; (here is an idea, go scribble about it) and my instinctive reaction to the prompt 'collecting' is an awareness that it's a symptom of insecurity and an inability to trust one's own judgement, then I realised that actually, I was confusing 'collecting' with 'hoarding'. I have hoardy tendencies, but I'm getting better; (piles of business correspondence, most of which I probably don't need isn't necessarily a sign of hoarding, perhaps just a sign of not wanting to deal with such a monumentally dull task as sorting through it all).

I guess one difference between hoarding and collecting is that hoarding is a passive activity where one is afraid to throw out stuff 'just in case' one might need or regret it, whereas collecting is a much more active pursuit, almost at the other end of the scale of how comfortable we are with decisions: Collectors know exactly what they want, whilst hoarders don't have a scooby.

So I hoard, a bit, but I do collect. What do I collect? Different answers are expected, depending on one the point of view of the one asking. So...

a) The western answer

I collect coffee cups, because I like good design and good coffee.

b) The sarcastic answer

I collect dust. The only exercise I get is with my mouse hand and typing fingers. I really must get out more.

c) The Mensa answer

I collect archaic English and use it in social situations to make myself appear intelligent.

d) The Buddhist answer

I collect experiences; experiences being instances of emotional note. I think this is my favourite collection. It helps me in life and aids calm decision making.