okay some people might refer to *clutter* as collections.. now i have my fair share and the dreading deed to cut back on some of it, its something i have been thinking of for a long time now that needs to be done..
i started at 18 years old collecting teddy bears.. first anything and everything i could find bear related, i wasnt picky at all i just collected it to collect it i think. although i have always had a love for bears since my rosebud a favorite bear i had as a little girl and somehow over the years lost..
but than i soon became picky only looking for one certain collection that i thought would in years to come hold some value with the clear understanding that someday i would leave them to my children not as some great *oh you have to keep this* but something that they could sell and earn some money off of..
i started collecting cherished teddies which at one time held some value not only in my emotion but also in money.. sadly like most things, the cash side of things quickly disappeared and unless i hold onto them for years to come probably wont be worth the cash that was even paid for them.
this collection now sits wrapped nicely in a box stored till the end of time.
i have often toyed with the idea of selling them off and just getting what i can out of them. after all what good are they to me sitting in a box when someone could put them out for display and enjoy them as they should be.
but each time i unwrap them i get the memories from each piece.. when they were bought, who bought them, what the occasion was.. a birthday, an anniversary, etc. and so i wrap each one back placing it back into the box they have called home for the last decade of my life.
i have the same problem with my cookie jars.. each one so cute and again i have been very picky about which ones i will buy or which ones are bought for me.. each one with a memory attached to it.. and my collection ever growing..
but when does collections become clutter and when do you put your big girl panties on and start making the tough decisions to downsize your growing collection?
i think im at that point now with both my bears and my cookie jars.. making my collections minimal and only keeping the ones i truly love and dont want to get rid of.. the older McCoy and Hull cookie jars.. the ones that are too cute to sell.. the ones that wont break my heart to see go..
at least i have time before i am faced with making that ultimate decision and i can freely mull over it in my mind.. preparing myself mentally for the day i start deciding who stays and who goes..
