We have been in our house for over 40 years. It’s a good sized house, and while we aren’t packrats, the house is filled with things that no one wants.
While I am pretty good at throwing some things out, I am also by nature a collector of interesting things. And, because I am also by nature at least somewhat frugal, I am by nature a collector of things that cost me nothing to acquire, or don’t cost me very much.
I also am what the French call, I think, a flanneur, or someone who likes to wander aimlessly just to see what there is to see.
Put all this together, and you can see how I collected more than 500 cigarette packages that I have found on the ground. Each different.
A few years ago, I threw out all of my collected domestic packets after some internal debate, along with several dozen cigarillo wrappers. Now, all I have left are my foreign packages. There are close to 200 of them.
There is no reason to keep them, but they are so fascinating.
For example, picked pretty much at random:
What should I do with them?
Of course, there are also the business cards I have found:
And the bookmarks;
But they take up less room.
Does everyone have this dilemma?
Art is 80 
3 responses to “The Subject is Downsizing”
I keep way too many books and paper printouts (e.g., of recipes I am highly unlikely to try, because I’m not a cook, but look like they’d be delicious). I am slowly starting to cull.
Reminder: The word “is” is not a conjunction (e.g., and), article (e.g., the) or preposition (e.g., to) and should be capitalized in headers and titles. Just because it contains only two letters does not mean it should be in lower case.
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Toss it and don’t look back.
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hardest for me is to pitch the things I’ve had longest. Likely most feel this way. Your collection is fascinating. Edie is heroic.
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