August 18, 2006

• On Collecting "Toys" - a Rationalization

  I think that childhood memories are extremely precious.  They are what shapes us in some ways into what we are today.  They are a safe, warm place to be, or at least that is what they should be.  People who do not have these safe, warm places are sometimes very stunted or even warped individuals, and will probably continue to be unless they can find such havens of rest later in life.  I hope that such people would be granted later what they were denied in their early years.  We all need these places to go back to in our memories in order to be refreshed and re-energized to create the memories of today.

  Sometimes there are certain objects that can help transport us back to these safe, warm and happy places.  Often they have been disposed of as having been either outgrown or lacking in useful purpose, either by the owner or the guardian of the owner.  But time changes our way of looking at things, and objects that we in our immaturity toss aside (perhaps a temporary tossing aside is an extremely necessary step for growth) later take on a new and different sort of meaning and value, in that they can become vehicles that take us joyfully back in time and give us hope for now.  They are an aid in helping us to remember happy feelings, to hear the music of voices silenced, and to see loving faces undamaged by time.  Perhaps when one is in that sort of mode, it is as close as one can come to heaven on earth.

  I suppose that is why I collect Barbie dolls, stuffed toys, cups and old things in general as a source of continuity for my own life, as there has been a bit of discontinuity with a change of address from Schenectady to Tokyo. 

  Another possible classification is collecting objects from a place to which you have never been but wanted to go, which in a way enables one to go vicariously.  Is this not the essence of fantasy and the ingredient of dreams?

  All very impractical, however, where the wallet is concerned.  I suppose that the deciding factor is how much one is willing to shell out for a vehicle.  One must also take care not to use vehicles as a source of escape.  The past is a place to visit occasionally, but one cannot take up permanent residence there, or the present and future will suffer.  And, one should avoid the danger of being caught in a trap of accumulating vehicles.  A vehicle acquired and tossed aside while the owner searches for yet more vehicles is one that is unridden and acquired to no real purpose.

  So, let there be sanity and balance, and all things in moderation, etc.  Foolish as it may seem, if you see a vehicle which takes you to a pleasant place in your mind, acquire it after a rational consultation with your wallet.  If it is a reminder of a person deceased, they you may be honoring that person through your actions in that you are expressing the love and desire for closeness that you still feel.  You are showing that your love and treasure the memories that person wove for you.

  

   

  • 11:42
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