Are you a packrat?

[trencherman]

I would not characterize myself as one, only that I tend to be surrounded by the normal accretions of an average self-indulgent North American householder. Although I fancy myself as abstemious, I do tend to be easily swayed by things on sale, specifically those that have something to do with cooking and baking, eating and drinking, not to mention dressing. I have myriads of single-use pastry implements, several sets of cookware and dinner plates, barware, wine glasses, etc. No one could classify my wardrobe as basic and I am on the constant lookout for additions to my vintage fountain pen collection. At one point, I kept four classical guitars in my possession. But still, I don’t feel pangs of retention on parting with most of them. For example, I gave a box of fine neckties to the manager and a box of miscellaneous Habana cigars to the service adviser of the car dealership I take my car to for service. I also equipped two recently landed immigrant young cousins with their first kitchen and dining necessities.

Long before Marie Kondo, the reigning queen of declattering, appeared as a guest of Stephen Colbert, I have been gradually shedding stuff from my life. First I culled my books to hold on to those I simply could not give away and sent away the rest to commenters of a food blog I was frequenting at the time. When I got a CD player, my LP turntable got relegated to the storage along with two steamer trunks full of LPs. Now that I listen to music on an MP3 player, the same thing is happening to my CD collection. I posted that I was giving those LPs away on Kijiji and I was surprised that within an hour it was snapped up by vigilant watchers. I wondered why people still listen to those. When I moved away from Toronto to my present location five years ago, I left behind area rugs, display wall units, a Nordictrack and countless bric-à-brac that I judged I would no longer need in my new green pastures.

I still have a long way to go because I cannot make myself as ruthless as the Marie Kondo doctrine proposes. Or maybe this objects that have remained still elicit that requisite spark of joy: a choice of edition de la Pléiade titles, mid-century Danish rosewood living and dining room furniture that I no longer need since I rarely entertain now; suits and coats that no longer fit me because my body has shrunk, baking tools I no longer use since going on a low carb diet, sheets of music that I no longer can conceivably learn given the time that’s running out, etc.

How about you guys?

 

[dargelos]

You ask why people still listen to vinyl records. Something I hear often is "I wish I still had my record turntable" Vinyl is back in a big way.
A CD player is plug and play, you can't really go wrong, but a good turntable needs careful set up to give of its best. Once you get used to the sound of peak vinyl, digital music is like porn is to sex, good but not the real thing. So our house is floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with records and not much else. We spend nothing at all on clothes, they fall apart and I sew them back together. Possessions don't mean anything at all, as long as we've got each other.

 

[tonka]

Five years ago, I moved from my third floor flat to the first floor flat and finally to the middle floor, all in one year.
I got rid of a lot of stuff.
I still buy clothes, but it's not out of control.

The one place that's pretty bad is the cellar. It's old and creepy. I have made it my task a few times to clear it out. I never do.

 

[trencherman]

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Dargelos, I agree with you there 100%. I acquired the LPs in my youth when my hearing was as keen as a dog’s. I bought into the whole thing, precision pick-ups, tone arm pressure gauges, electrostatic headphones, specialty vinyl, etc. but age took its toll alas, not only on my hearing but specially on my patience. Sure I missed the artwork and the doentation behind the album covers. The space that the LPs freed though was liberating and the advantages that the CDs offered seemed irresistible, no annoying non-musical signals above all.

 

[brmstn69]

Yes, and I've got 15 rooms full of shit to get rid of before I move into the van...