Thursday, February 25, 2010

Collectors vs. Non-Collectors

A recent reader-written article in the Washington Post about a collector and his wife, who is definitely not a collector, made me think about this common point of contention. The author writes about his wife reaction, "my God, not another" look every time you add a little something to your collection? Is "What do you want that for?" often spoken in not-so-endearing terms. Or, "How much did that cost? You don't have any more room." You love to collect, but your spouse or significant other does not. You want to accumulate as many of items you are passionate about. By doing so; however, will this cause friction and the loss of passion between you and your loved one? What is an avid collector to do? The non-collectors call it junk, trash, cluttter. Whereas, we see a museum-quality display. Some non-collector tolerate collections...to a point. I've heard stories from collectors who hide their newly-found items, thereby avoiding any conflict. In the past, I've written about collecting and the psychology of collecting. Do you have a collector / collectionless story to share? Let us know via the 'Comments' link below.

2 comments:

Brad Scalio said...

I always think of something Dixie told me back in 2000 when I went to visit her collection on a trip to C'ville ... she said that (paraphrased) a few of the same thing is considered clutter, whereas a lot is consider a collection.

Collecting is similar to life. You start out awkward and crawling, gradually learning more and improving your skills until eventually after an awkward adolescences you mature and have a life that hopefully makes you proud of all you have been through.

At first my collection of a few dozen buildings did look awkward and like clutter. Now, after 10 years, everyone who sees it really appreciates the passion and hobby, including the significant other.

My partner eventually came around and stopped asking those sort of inconsiderate questions, "why that, "how much did you spend on another ESB replica, don't you have 5 already." Now I get comments like, "it's been a while since you bought anything new," and "we should consider building a larger display area."

Dave said...

Great advice Brad ! Thanks for joining the discussion.

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