Fascinating. I have become overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I’ve accumulated over the years and have a compulsive need to purge anything that doesn’t have some intrinsic psychological or artistic value. But how to make those decisions? None of them will be the least bit objective.
It's interesting to read how there is a variety of people's views and connection to their belongings.
Personally, I live as minimalist as possible and while I have "things", I have always limited my essential items to X amount in the event if I could only take one bag / one box.
Examples:
I can only keep 7 books (which I have a list of "Permanent Residents", all other books get traded or sold...a book is pointless if it is just sitting on a shelf)
I can only keep 10 vinyls / albums
Hockey Jerseys, though I have a collection, there are "3" that stay.
This has greatly helped us be very conscious of what we have and what is important.
As a writer and musician I wonder if every physical folder I have, such as “songs” or “poetry” counts as a single possession. OR if one might document each piece of paper for the most granular version of this exercise.
Hi Paul. I have always tried to be a minimalist in terms of my own possessions. Owning "stuff" has always carried some psychic overhead for me, as the existence of things I am responsible for takes up a space in my mind. The less I own, the more space I have for other things to think about.
These articles on "recording things" (mail and gas purchases) reminds me of the obsession John D. Rockefeller has of recording every purchase and sale he made in a book he called "Ledger A." Imagine that: a man who was once the richest person in the world would write down in his own private book what he bought or sold that day. Rockefeller also played golf every day on his own 9-hole course behind his mansion in Sleep Hollow, NY. Even in winter. His staff would have to clear snow from the tee box and greens so he could play. Seems like there was a lot going on with John D. Rockefeller's obsessions. :)
Interesting to read about other's need to document their possessions. With all that I have at Chicago Children's Museum and in my condo (Museum II) I have never felt the need to document the items. I did name each collection and counted "how many" in a few, but that was enough for me. Fondly, Michael
Hi, Michael! Glad you weighed in -- I was wondering what you'd think of these projects. Personally, I love stuff and I love catalogs, but I don't feel the need to catalog my stuff!
Since you weighed in, one more interesting idea I leaned when the appraiser and I worked on assigning value to my collections before their being moved to Chicago Children's Museum. Before I met with the appraiser I was terrified of having to catalogue each of the hundred's of thousands, maybe millions of items in my donation to CCM. He was an expert appraiser and also owned an antique shop that dealt with oddities and unusual "antiquities". I was impressed when he wanted us to work together on assign value. He explained that since I collected them, I too was an expert in the appraisal field, knowing how much I spent and knowing in my travels, like items and their cost. We named each collection, wrote a brief description of what was in the collection, and then assigned a value to the entire collection. His theory and practice was that if ANY ONE PART of the collection, in transfering to CCM, was lost, damaged, or destroyed, for insurance purposes that would invalidate the entire collection and thereby initiate the insurance replacement cost for the entire value. What sufficed was to take a photograph of the collection, describe it, then guess as the total replacement cost. If, of course, the items were irreplaceable, the estimate would be highter. A second interesting fact is that the estimates for the items that were of things I had collected for my personql enjoyment and kept in my home would be lower than when they were part of an exhibit in an estblished museum. So he did two lists, one reflected a lower estimate for each collection and then he increased by quite a bit the value thwn the collection was installed at chicago Children's Museum.
Fascinating. I have become overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I’ve accumulated over the years and have a compulsive need to purge anything that doesn’t have some intrinsic psychological or artistic value. But how to make those decisions? None of them will be the least bit objective.
It's interesting to read how there is a variety of people's views and connection to their belongings.
Personally, I live as minimalist as possible and while I have "things", I have always limited my essential items to X amount in the event if I could only take one bag / one box.
Examples:
I can only keep 7 books (which I have a list of "Permanent Residents", all other books get traded or sold...a book is pointless if it is just sitting on a shelf)
I can only keep 10 vinyls / albums
Hockey Jerseys, though I have a collection, there are "3" that stay.
This has greatly helped us be very conscious of what we have and what is important.
As a writer and musician I wonder if every physical folder I have, such as “songs” or “poetry” counts as a single possession. OR if one might document each piece of paper for the most granular version of this exercise.
Hi Paul. I have always tried to be a minimalist in terms of my own possessions. Owning "stuff" has always carried some psychic overhead for me, as the existence of things I am responsible for takes up a space in my mind. The less I own, the more space I have for other things to think about.
These articles on "recording things" (mail and gas purchases) reminds me of the obsession John D. Rockefeller has of recording every purchase and sale he made in a book he called "Ledger A." Imagine that: a man who was once the richest person in the world would write down in his own private book what he bought or sold that day. Rockefeller also played golf every day on his own 9-hole course behind his mansion in Sleep Hollow, NY. Even in winter. His staff would have to clear snow from the tee box and greens so he could play. Seems like there was a lot going on with John D. Rockefeller's obsessions. :)
I still love the now-decades-old art project and book All My Life for Sale (https://www.allmylifeforsale.com/).
That one's new to me, Clint. Thanks for the tip!
Paul
Interesting to read about other's need to document their possessions. With all that I have at Chicago Children's Museum and in my condo (Museum II) I have never felt the need to document the items. I did name each collection and counted "how many" in a few, but that was enough for me. Fondly, Michael
Hi, Michael! Glad you weighed in -- I was wondering what you'd think of these projects. Personally, I love stuff and I love catalogs, but I don't feel the need to catalog my stuff!
Since you weighed in, one more interesting idea I leaned when the appraiser and I worked on assigning value to my collections before their being moved to Chicago Children's Museum. Before I met with the appraiser I was terrified of having to catalogue each of the hundred's of thousands, maybe millions of items in my donation to CCM. He was an expert appraiser and also owned an antique shop that dealt with oddities and unusual "antiquities". I was impressed when he wanted us to work together on assign value. He explained that since I collected them, I too was an expert in the appraisal field, knowing how much I spent and knowing in my travels, like items and their cost. We named each collection, wrote a brief description of what was in the collection, and then assigned a value to the entire collection. His theory and practice was that if ANY ONE PART of the collection, in transfering to CCM, was lost, damaged, or destroyed, for insurance purposes that would invalidate the entire collection and thereby initiate the insurance replacement cost for the entire value. What sufficed was to take a photograph of the collection, describe it, then guess as the total replacement cost. If, of course, the items were irreplaceable, the estimate would be highter. A second interesting fact is that the estimates for the items that were of things I had collected for my personql enjoyment and kept in my home would be lower than when they were part of an exhibit in an estblished museum. So he did two lists, one reflected a lower estimate for each collection and then he increased by quite a bit the value thwn the collection was installed at chicago Children's Museum.