The number of objects that enter a home each year is infinitely greater than the number of objects that go out. You just have to take a look at the house of some newlyweds and compare it with the house of a middle-aged couple.
All this has led me to reflect on accumulation, something that I had never considered before.. I have come to the conclusion that people accumulate objects mainly for two reasons:
Many of the objects that we accumulate have a special meaning for us. They remind us of a certain person we met or of those vacations we enjoyed so much. Personally, I really like to travel and when I have the opportunity I try to travel to countries that we consider "exotic". The problem with choosing these destinations is that I buy many objects simply because I think that I would not find them in Spain.
Another great repertoire of objects that abounds in our homes are the gifts that we have received each year for our birthdays or at Christmas. Although it does not sound politically correct to say so, a large percentage of these gifts we have only as decoration and we never give them the use for which they were created..
Getting rid of vacation souvenirs or gifts for which we find no use can be very expensive.. We must understand that they are only objects and do not represent the people with whom they are related. To continue keeping them in our house is to live in the past without leaving space to enjoy the present..
Many times we accumulate objects "just in case". We are afraid of not being prepared for the future and we accumulate everything that falls into our hands. But the truth is that we can never be prepared for the future.
The future is uncertain and we cannot control what lies ahead. You lose weight, you lose weight and your clothes are too big for you. Instead of donating it, you prefer to keep it "in case" tomorrow you will increase in size again. Years go by, you get fat and you don't want to wear a garment that has gone out of style or you just don't feel like putting on some pants that you've been seeing hanging in the closet every day for the last ten years. Not to mention the clothes that go out of style and we keep them "just in case" tomorrow will be back in fashion.
If the future arrives and you are not prepared, absolutely nothing happens. You adapt and move on. The future is an imaginary concept that never quite arrives because in reality it is always coming. The future comes to us every day, every week and every month. And it usually does it loaded with unexpected surprises. Surely not a week goes by without you having an unforeseen expense, no matter how small, and yet you solve the problem. You adapt and move on.
It is true that saving certain things can prevent us from making any expenses again in the future. However, you must assess whether it is worth taking space out of your home for years in order to (perhaps) save a few euros tomorrow..
Personally, what I tend to accumulate the most for fear of the future is clothes. I have a couple of thick sports coats that are huge on me and I know I will never wear them again. My sister, who is the opposite of me in that sense, always asks me why I don't throw them away. I, half jokingly, usually answer him that maybe in the future there will be a war and they will serve as a shelter to go to the field to hunt rabbits to feed ourselves.
This answer probably stems from my taste for apocalyptic movies along with the stories my grandmother told me about the postwar period and its lack of basic goods. My sister continues her crusade and it is her turn to get my old ties, to which I give in, telling her that she can throw them away. Then my brother-in-law appears, what a savior, to explain to me that in a war I can always use the ties to make improvised tourniquets.
Serve this family conversation to exemplify that where there is an uncertain future we will always try to generate a reassuring response. And many times this response is translated into the action of accumulating.
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