Enjoying Your Collections

What is it that makes collecting so satisfying? It must be a remnant of our more primitive hunter gatherer selves. It stems from a time when bushes and logs were picked over for every last berry, mushroom and tasty grub. Now, the bush and log are tag sales and bargain bins. The exuberant feeling must be similar to what our cave-dwelling ancestors experienced when the perfect collectible is found.
Primitive man didn’t have to restrain himself from collecting. Constarints were placed on the caveman by the forces of mother nature and the harsh living conditions that they had. But how do we modern folks know when it is time to stop collecting or to part with some or all of a collection?
Collections are usually cyclical.For most people collecting follows a pattern. They begin at certain points in life, but the time and intensity involved often keep a person holding on to a collection long past real enjoyment of it. It is common for a parent to get a child started with some type of collectible that they enjoy. They may not ever be worth a great deal of money, but they will always have a special place in a person’s heart and often their home forever.
The value of the collectibles does play into whether a person hangs onto something and whether they feel like it must be seen. A collectible frogs set could be an example of this and a person will find them selves finding a place to display their latest additions even though there is no room left in their house because they spent $500 on something and feel they have to put it out because of that.
A great way to determine if a collection, or part of it, has outlived its purpose is to ask yourself questions like: “Do I still feel a positive charge when I look at the collection?” and “Is it displayed or is it packed away?”, or “Could I get more of enjoyment out of my collection by selling it on a website like www.myfrogcollection.com . Some items that a person has collected might still be be in the person’s background even when it is out in the open in their home. If you are not constantly redecorating your home, there are collectibles that end up with a permanent place even though you are no longer actively collecting them.
I was inspired to start my collection by an article titled Collecting Frogs – a Fun Hobby for All Ages but as time went by that enthusiasm faded and I knew that not properly caring for a collection is a sign that I had moved on and it might be time to let it go and in fact it would have been better to have parted with them 20 years earlier since at this point they went into the trash bin.
If you are having a debate about what should be kept or what should go, try putting some things into a storage are every now and then. If you’re tired of your tea pots but can’t part with them yet, box them and bring out your quartz crystal collection for awhile. Doing this will make it easier to enjoy your collectibles for a longer period of time. If you’re not excited to see the old collection again when it’s time to rotate it back into display mode, then it is probably time to let it go. If you add to the collection, keep it manageable with a mini purge of older items.
Family is one of the ways for you to pass down your collection to future generations. You should keep in mind that most of the joy in a collection is the experience of the hunt, not the having. Maybe you would be better off donating your stuff to a second hand store and teaching the young kids how to become a collector them selves.