Attached To Possessions

[nailit]

How ridiculous is it to get attached to 'things'?
Ive mentioned on here before that my book collection is my pride and joy. However Ive decided to thin it out as I'm no longer collecting, but hoarding. Recently sold a few hundred paperbacks that will never get read again to a local dealer, got a few more hundred up for sale on the internet (as a bulk buy) Still got others boxed up ready for sorting/sale when I get around to it. Ive still got a fair collection in my bookcases, most that I want to keep but others which will go eventually.
However, I'm actually feeling sad that my collection is disappearing.
*WHY* do humans get so attached to things?
Have you ever got rid of something that's made you feel a bit forlorn doing so?
Thanks.

[emmie]

i am very attached to my property. its not mine but the councils but i have been here a very long time and would miss it dreadfully if i had to move.

[mikey4444]

Nailit....like you, I am getting rid of books. Due to my health, I may not be around for another 64 years (!) and none of my family have any interest in books whatsoever. I have donated quite a few to local charity shops I also have a large collection of classical CDs, although these are more problematic to get rid of.

I have also started to get rid of other things, like my Wedgewood dinner service, which has already gone to my brother, where it is on display on his Welsh Dresser.....it looks so much nicer there, than it ever did in my kitchen cupboards, slowly gathering dust !

[nailit]

I know what you mean emmie, I love my flat and where I live now but a place to live can be found elsewhere, but when it comes to personel posessions that have been collected over many years?? just why do we place so much importance on them? They will all end up as dust some day anyway.

[tamborine]

I miss my books & vinyls that are irreplaceable now.

[emmie]

i have a relatively small collection of books, i could get rid of some but my Harry Potter collection and Dickens novels stay put.

[mikey4444]

Nailit....books can be a very personal issue. I am always disappointed when I go into a house, and there are no books to be seen, especially if there kids present.

A good book is a good friend....I have proved that many times before.

[nailit]

Mikey, I also used to have a large (but not extensive) CD collection that I got rid of last year...which included classical music. Figured that if I wanted to listen to something then it would be on the internet anyway. Didn't cause me any angst donating it but for some reason thinning my book collection down does.

[tamborine]

My eyes r dim...so books are useless to me

[wolf63]

I have three things in my life that I would miss. My flat isn't perfect but it is my hiding place from the world (and it is in the city centre which is handy). The two other things are living, walking, furry dictators of the feline kind.

[Eleena]

Because of the sheer enjoyment/ emotion we remember getting from an item that first initial time, and subsequently, each time after. I think 'eventually' though, that item is replaced by something equally as exciting, and so we can eventually part with it, but still it's hard. So, the buzz .... until the next buzz comes along. That's the way I see it.

[nailit]

emmie, ive kept my Harry Potter books too ;-)

[Eleena]

Do you see your books as an extension of who you are on display for others to see Nailit? I love to see/ know what people are interested in reading.

[nailit]

Must admit Tambo, I had some vinyls in my teenage years that I wished I'd kept hold off...especialy when I see the prices that they are going for on ebay right now...

[nailit]

Good point Eleena, yes I think so. Although a lot of my books reflected who I was THEN and not now.

[Baldric]

Not really but my first wife made me very happy for a number of years, although I was elated to see the back of her when she wanted to dilute my book collection and failed miserably.

[Eleena]

Are those the ones you've let go Nailit?

[emmie]

i sold off my entire vinyl collection, some 300 albums and several thousand 45's, i miss them but needed the space.

[Eleena]

emmie, I did the same many years ago when money was tight to take my children away on holiday. Put them all in a suitcase and sold the lot. One was the Beatles White album.

[nailit]

Same here Baldric, I was elated to see the back of her...not sure it was anything to do with my book hoarding though :-)

[nailit]

Eleena, not necessarily, just books that will never get read again. Apart from some of the novels that Ive just sold to a dealer, Ive got a load of reference books that are no longer needed in the age of the internet.