Day 444

We all tend to gather things throughout our lifetimes. Even our pups gather items from time-to-time. We lovingly call Lilly our "Bone Collector" while the boys love their sticks. They brought so many home, we started a "Stick Library" for dogs!

Being the third generation to live in The Big White House, I have collections from my grandparents, my parents and now my own accumulations. For example, we inherited over 2000 books that line the walls of our living room, but have steadily added to that number through the years. We could NEVER read those volumes in our lifetime, yet still we gather more!

Today, we helped a friend begin to deal with the collections of his wife who recently passed away. At his home, we were astounded by the sheer numbers in various settings, but also found the organization and neatness to be awe-inspiring! From this experience, I learned two lessons today.

The first would be to refrain from collecting "treasures" in vast quantities. Perhaps just a few of an item to own and enjoy, or maybe photographs of these prize possessions would suffice.

The second lesson was rather sobering in nature. There are collections in my home which no one else would want. Some of these articles bring memories only to me while others might serve to bring me comfort or pleasure. No matter their allure for me, I need to throttle back on collecting more and more.

I have loved ones who collected frogs, dolls, rocks or other objects. They loved their collections and, even though they needed to be dealt with down the road, if it brought a smile to their face or triggered a sweet memory, who am I to question their ultimate worth?

Once again, I need to be more like my Goldens. They live for for the moment and do not cherish "things." Sticks, bones and dog toys might be the exception, but they seem to intuitively know what is truly important to collect. They collect love...I think they are on to something!