Are you a collector? It’s big business. People collect coins, art work, vintage ANYTHING, stamps, baseball cards, and beanie babies (remember that?).

Me? Other than shoes? (What? Yes, I said shoes.) I have a mini-collection of art work that I intend to expand. There’s also a collection of Thomas Blackshear figurines. Oh, and ink pens. I used to collect unique brooches. My favorite collectibles right now? African-American Christmas ornaments.

The thing with collecting it, you have to love what it is you’re collecting. You have to understand that item so you know what’s what. You have to know what things are worth. How to spot a fake. All that applies to the serious collector..of serious items. If you’re collecting fun things (my pens, brooches), it’s not that serious. You like what you like, you buy it.

I realize I have other things that I collect also. Some are invaluable to me and others have absolutely no value to anyone no matter how you twist or turn them. Things that are invaluable are my relationships, memories of time spent with family/friends – good times and bad times. Things that I’ve learned about myself and life. Good books. Good music. Art.

But those other “collectibles”? It’s time to let them go. They hold no value. Never have. They’re dust collectors and simply weigh on my spirit. Things like memories of bad relationships that we tend to put on repeat. Pain that we tend to keep on redial. Poorly made decisions. Memories that keep adding new lyrics to my “Am I enough?” tape. Nothing. Those things are like those sets of glasses the fast-food restaurants used to sell. The ones with the cartoon characters on them. They served a purpose – holding your drink. You can hold on to them but they will never have any greater meaning, purpose, or value than it did when you first bought them. So it is with those other “collectibles”. They have no value.

To me, that translates into clutter and I’m trying to live clutter free – literally and figuratively in every area of my life. So, I’m packing all that stuff up and tossing it out. It served its purpose.

It’s all about knowing what makes your spirit sing, who makes your heart smile, what’s truly adding value to your life and investing your time and energy in those things, those people. That’s true wealth Baby.

*~* QUOTABLE *~*
“Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” ~ Oscar Wilde

One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few. ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh