Got Junk?
Thoughts about the junk in my closet…
We are a country of shoppers and consumers. 🛍 We don’t just have 1 of everything but at least 3 in 3 different colors. Why? Because we can.
Great-grandparents
When I was young, I would visit my great-grandparents house, which wasn’t a big house. It had 3 bedrooms, one bathroom, and teeny closets. I have many happy memories there, but one detail that sticks out to me is the creative ways in which my great-grandparents utilized their small space. Every closet was full. Under every bed or piece of furniture was a box or something that was being saved. I am sure my grandma’s 1st grade art project was stuffed somewhere in a box in the attic or basement. My great-grandparents were born in the 1920s. I am living in the 2020s. How have our views towards this over collecting of objects changed?
Scarcity
I think that my great-grandparents held on to stuff because they valued the importance of saving money. They were never hungry, but both came from modest backgrounds and had regular blue-collar jobs. I remember my great-grandfather telling me that he was lucky if he got shoes for Christmas or even an orange. My childhood was filled with an excess of Christmas presents. I probably had more than I needed.