Collecting Is Dangerous

Collecting Is Dangerous Collecting material possessions is not unlike hoarding. Take it from two former hoardersâ€"ahem, collectorsâ€"of stuff. The word collector  just sounds nicer. No matter how hard we try to hide behind euphemisms and other semantic trickery, though, the truth will always find us.  Dont believe us? Look it up. The Oxford American Writers Thesaurus lists the following synonyms under the first definition of collection: HOARD, pile, heap, stockpile. Its strange: there are myriad TV shows, websites, and clubs all dedicated to collecting thingsâ€"not creating things, but collecting them. We don’t believe there’s anything inherently wrong with owning material possessions, but we do wonder why so many of us collect  things: why do we give our belongings so much meaning? The things we collect become elements of us: our collections become part of our identities. But what happens when we take away our collectionsâ€"are we not the same beautiful people? Actually, when we jettison our superfluous possessions, we discover we’re already perfectâ€"beautiful through and through. Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.