To collect means (according to dictionary.com) to gather a group of similar objects. To hoard means to collect items for future use and keep them carefully guarded. According to these definitions, I am something of a hoarder, although these days, colloquially, hoarding implies a kind of crazy mental attachment to things that can’t be controlled. I do know that I don’t “collect.”
My grandmother used to collect little bird figurines. Almost everywhere you looked in her house there was a bird of some sort staring back at you. My 
mom used to collect those little Hummel figures—not the real ones. But I was never drawn into that. I’m sentimental…and yet, not. My mother-in-law once convinced me to collect pewter cups. In Virginia, pewter is readily available and some of the fine cups used for display are really beautiful. I collected three and then lost interest. Maybe I don’t have the patience to build an actual collection. However, for hoarding…I find that a little too easy.
For years and years (like for thirty years), hubby and I dragged gifts we got for our wedding around with us whenever we moved. By things I mean beautiful, well-intentioned gifts that we never ever used or displayed. Like a 
silver serving tray, silver monogrammed drinking glasses, and silver tipped salt and pepper shakers. Nope, never used them. Kept them in the same boxes we received them. But I kept packing and moving them with us because for some reason I just couldn’t let them go. Crazy? Yeah, I think so a bit. Finally, in a wild downsize, I sent all of that stuff to the Salvation Army but—I won’t lie—it was painful.
Even after the downsize, and here where storage is diminished, I have tubs of stuff I keep looking at and saying, “I might use that (salad spinner, 
ridiculous dust collector I picked up in Chicago, book my mom gave me fifteen years ago, etc.), so I can’t toss it away.” That’s how it goes, folks. One day I will have to say goodbye to all of it, but until then, all of that stuff is in four tubs stacked in my closet. Sigh.
Do you collect or maybe (like me) hoard? Let’s commiserate!
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Dee
Only a Good Man Will Do: Seriously ambitious man seeks woman to encourage his goals, support his (hopeful) position as Headmaster of Westover Academy, and be purer than Caesar’s wife. Good luck with that!
Naval Maneuvers: When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than to call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines!
I find the stuff tends to expand to fit the storage space available. I’m a weeder, and clutter bothers me, gets under my skin and makes me itch to discard unused items. But if unused stuff is neatly tucked away, I may not notice it until forced to. Recently, our basement flooded–just a bit, but we had to pull up the carpet. That meant emptying the big closet where we store seldom-used clothing. I thought I’d already weeded out enough old office wear from my former job, but… Two big lawn-sized trash bags of clothing, two moving cartons of paperback books we’ll never reread, several kitchen items, big stacks of board games…All donated. Man, that feels marvelous!
It’s horrible how easy it is to accumulate! Good for you for getting rid of some old, unused items–even if you were forced into facing it! 😉
Thanks for your comment Sadira.
I think we’re a lot alike in our desultory collecting habits. It’s tough to reconcile that with a spouse who’s a pack rat.
I agree, Holly. Jack is worse than I am but with different items. I have three or four plastic tubs full of computer wiring and connectors and phone line and … stuff that he can’t seem to let go of either. If one of us was more disciplined it might be easier. 😉
I finally let go of the china I bought while in college. I’d only used it once, I couldn’t put it in the microwave (had a metal ring around the edge of all the plates), and during this last move, frankly, I was tired of yelling, “Fragile! Fragile!” at the kids as they tossed the boxes at each other. Sent it all to our St. Vincent De Paul store, and out of curiosity one day, I checked to see if it was there. Yes, with a $75 tag on EVERY piece…..dinner plates, bread and butter plates, cups and saucers, the platters, the wine and water goblets (I admit to keeping one of each of these, lol! Yes, it was painful….but at the same time. they’d only been out of their original boxes for ten years, and even then, stacked in a display cabinet we couldn’t take with us when we moved in 2006. So finally in 2016, after being packed up and moved to one storage facility, then a friend’s basement, then to another storage unit, our basement, and the final storage unit (finances dictated we needed to stop paying rent on storage units every couple of years, ha ha…), I said ‘enough’, and began making some hard decisions. I still have half a room in my Brown house that I still need to go through, because the 1st time I obviously didn’t get rid of enough ‘stuff’ the 1st time!
Molly, you sound like me!! I have had things in and out of long term storage, and then stacking boxes in closets for too many years. We used to move quite a bit–every two years or so, and it’s just wearing to keep up with all the stuff. You’re inspiring me to clean out the remaining clutter! Thanks for your comment!
Sometimes stuff piles up and you don’t realize until you downsize.
It’s too, too easy, Kate!