Jeg har en veninde, som samler på antikke gyngeheste. Hun har indtil nu 4 (såvidt jeg husker). De 3 er så små, at de står på en hylde, og den ene står på gulvet. Hun er feinschmeker, så det er ikke alt, hun køber. Det har taget hende lagt tid at finde disse heste. Men er hun samler, når hun kun har 4? Ja, det er hun, for hun går på loppemarkeder for at finde flere.
Så er spørgsmålet, hvordan samlingen fortsætter. Om hun har nogle kriterier omkring, hvor store de må være, og hvor gamle de skal være. For hvis hun ikke sætter nogle rammer omkring samlingen, kan den let blive stor og uhåndterlig i hendes lille toværelses lejlighed.
En anden veninde samlede på ugler. Det vil sige, hun startede med at købe porcelænsugle, som hun "ikke kunne stå for" og så senere en ugle, der ville matche.Og så greb det om sig, selvom hun egentlig ikke ville det. Men nu troede venner og familie, at hun samlede på ugler. Det var jo en bekvem måde at købe gaver til hende på, så folk fandt ugler i glas, ugler i ler, ugler i patchwork (en pude), ugler... i alle mulige materialer, og samlingen blev stor.
På et tidspunkt spurgte jeg hende om, hvad hun ville gøre, når hun ikke havde plads på hylden til flere ugler, og hun kiggede desparat på mig og sagde: "Jeg vil ikke have en ugle mere inden for døren, og jeg hader at tørre støv af dem, og at de dominerer hele min stue!" Så spurgte hun mig, hvordan hun skulle få folk til at lade være med at købe ugler, og hvordan hun skulle komme af med dem, så hun kun havde de to, som hun havde købt selv.
Det er helt klart ikke let at give en sådan udmelding, men det er et spørgsmål om at være ærlig. Hellere være ærlig en gang, end at lyve 300 gange - og så eje 300 ugler mere. Jeg foreslog hende at skrive en mail og fortælle sandheden. Hvordan hun aldrig havde tænkt sig at ville samle på ugler, og at hun nu ville 'bortaktionere' dem og lade beløbet gå til et godt formål. Hun skrev en mail og postede yderligere en besked på FB.
Var der nogen, der blev fornærmede? Ja, sikkert, men de sagde det ikke højt. Men der var til gengæld også en stor del, der synes, at det var så morsomt, at de hjalp hende med at komme af med dem. Nu har hun to ugler!
Generelt skal man være varsom med at give efter for at købe flere af samme slags. Det skaber et behov for, at man også skal have den næste ting, der bliver produceret af samme mærke. Og den næste ting. Det kan være årsskeer, juleuroer, platter, ølflasker, tegneserier og de dermed følgende figurer. Ja, der er ingen ende, og man kan samle på alt.
Det bedste er - lad være! Det er ting. Det er ting, der skal passes. Det er ting, der fylder op. Det er ting, der koster penge. Det er ting, der koster tid. Og hvis man ikke elsker at passe disse ting, hvis man ikke elsker at se på dem og ordne dem, hvis man ikke har lyst til at bruge tid på dem, og hvis du ikke elsker at bruge penge på dem, så lad være!
Bliv ikke samler ved et tilfælde. Bliv samler, hvis du brænder for det!
I have a friend, who is collecting antique rocking horses. She has 4 (as far as I remember). Three small ones standing on a shelf, and one on the floor. She is a connoisseur, so she doesn't buy anything. It has taken her a long time to find these horses. But is she a collector, if she only has 4? Yes, she is, because she is going to flea markets to find more.
Then it is a quiestion about, how the collection goes on. If she has criterias about, how big they could be, and how old they have to be. Because if she doesn't set boundries around the collecting, it can easily become big and difficult to handle in her little 2 room apartment.
Another friend collected owls. Well, the story is, that she started by buying a procelain owl, which she "just couldn't resist", and later found one in another shop, which would match. And then things took their own turn, even though she didn't really want it. Because now friends and relatives 'knew', that she was collecting owls. And it was an easy way to buy her a present, and she got owls in glas, cheramic owls, owls in patchwork (a pillow), owls in... all kinds of materials, and the collection became huge.
Once we were together I asked her, what she would do, when she didn't have more space for owls on the book shelf, and she looked all desparate at me and said: "I don't want one more owl to enter my home, and I hate dusting them, and they dominate my living room totally!" Then she asked me, how she was going to stop everyone from giving her more owls, and how she could get rid of all of them, except the ones she had bought herself.
It is quite clearly not easy to come out with announcement like that, but it is a question about being honest. Rather be honest once, than lying 300 times - and then be the owner of 300 owls more. I suggested her to write a mail and tell the truth. How she never had thought about being an owl collector, and that now she would make an 'auction' and donate the money for charity. She wrote a mail, and also posted it on FB.
Did anybody get offended? Yes, probably, but they didn't say it out loud. However a lot of people thought, that is was fun, and helped her get rid of them. Now she is left with two owls!
In general you should be never give in to buying more of the same kind. No matter what it is. It creates a desire for owning the next 'thing' in the production line. And the next. It can be anything. Plates, decorations, porcelain figurines, beer bottles, comics and comic dolls. There is no end, and you can collect anything.
The best thing is - don't! It is just things. Things you have to take care of. Things, which takes up space. Things, which cost money. Things, which takes your time. And if you don't love to take care of them, if you don't love to look at them, and if you don't love to spend your money on them, then don't!
Don't accidently become a collector. Become a collector, if you love it!
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