Saturday, September 26, 2009

Keep on smilin'


I love smiley faces. I have a lot of them because I find them therapeutic. I also have a large collection of Garfields with smiles--or smirks--depending on your way of looking at it.

I have thought about selling my Garfield collection but they don't have very much value. This might be because there are literally thousands of Garfield items out there.

I am the proud owner of such mundane articles as Garfield brown paper lunch bags and plastic sandwich bags. I have a Garfield mug tree to hold the many unused Garfield mugs of every kind I own. I also have a lot of Garfield Christmas ornaments packed away along with the Easter and July 4th decorations.

Collecting is great fun until one day you look at your collection and say, "Now what?" Over the years I have collected green glass, cougar pictures and figurines, cedar waxwing pictures and figurines, calendar art, cookie jars, cat figurines, etc., etc.

I'm not a hoarder but eventually your things start to become a burden. Ownership is no longer fun and you realize that the joy was in the "hunting and gathering". Once you acquire the "prey", it becomes just stuff.

So, as much as I craves the smiles, the stuff has got to go!

4 comments:

Olde Dame Penniwig said...

Ha ha Ms. Sparrow, come over to the Dark Side and join me in my pursuit of the Buddhist way!!! Get rid of any possessions that weigh you down!

My house is practically empty. I used to collect things, but it troubled my mind. But I know some people who are not burdened by their collections.

I did have a friend who collected All Things Penguin. She had literally thousands of penguin items, from a lifetime of penguin love. THEN, one day she looked around, and said, THESE PENGUINS GOTTA GO! It was really quite amazing.

Daughter Number Three said...

I had a friend who, at the tender age of 21, had the habit of giving away everything he owned every few years. I think he kept his guitar.

From this relationship I got a button that says "I read banned books" (circa 1980 - his mother was a ilbrarian) and one for the United Farm Workers grape boycott. I think of him whenever I see those buttons in my collection.

Barbara Blundell said...

Hi Ms Sparrow,
Did you ever collect the Peanuts cartoons ? I've spent hours searching for the cartoon where " I love mankind-it's peopleI I can't stand" was quoted Nowhere can I find it ! There are thousands in the archives but it eludes me !

Sparrow chic said...

Collecting sometimes has reasoning behind it. I collect Cardinals (the bird), because they remind me of someone I loved who is no longer here. Same with roses. So, it's not always senseless.