is less always more?

in short, yes.

this is something that I always have to remind myself. as a child of the 90s, I grew up collecting. beanie babies come to mind first. but, I was also a collector of stuffed animals, gel pens, pokemon cards, cds, gemstones, bath & body works lotions, and (briefly) pogs. I still struggle with my proclivity to collection; candles, nail polishes, pens (still!), spices, socks, plants, leggings, books, vintage t-shirts, the list goes on. and while I argue with myself that there can be a point to the collecting, is my life enriched by the stuff ?

yes and no.

if marie kondo were to tell me to hold each book, one by one, and ask myself if it sparks joy, the answer would be “no” for the majority of them. but do you know what does spark joy? my books all lined up, organized by color, reminding me of the adventures I’ve experienced, the knowledge I’ve gained, the times that words have made me laugh and cry. I often find myself staring lovingly at my bookshelf like I would an art instillation.

do I need another red nail polish? do I need any nail polishes? if I’m going to decide that, yes, I want nail polish to be in my life, I really only need three colors. but is that how many I have? of course not. how will I know my three colors without trying a bunch? also, I want to use cruelty-free polish that has as few chemicals as possible, but which brand works best? now I have twelve shades of red so I can find my perfect one polish I need. and so the acquisition of more to then need less has commenced.

my grandparents grew up in rural alabama during the great depression. my grandfather became an engineer and worked for nasa during the space race. by the time I came around, my grandparents were well-off but humble. they lived in the same modest house for 60 years, but my grandmother has more pairs of shoes than she can count. I attribute my collecting to her. she was not only my enabler, she was my role model. she took me shopping, she started asking me what I wanted for christmas in july, she did all she could to spoil me in ways that she could not be spoiled.

but her world is quite different from mine. pulling yourself up from your bootstraps wasn’t mythology, but actuality that lived and breathed all around you. in her world, capitalism worked for the middle class.

in my world, capitalism told us as children that these toys stuffed with beans would be worth thousands some day. we were duped into believing that a tie dyed teddy bear would pay our college tuition, so long as the red heart tag remained intact on its ear. don’t play with these beanie babies, these are the investment into our future. so we stood in line, waiting to get the newest animal filled with beans. as the demand increased, the supply increased, too, of course. so when it was time to cash in our investment, because of the law of supply and demand, the market was oversaturated. they told us that these babies would be worth so much, and we soon found out, that they held no value. corporations told us that they were a worthy investment knowing that they were the only ones who would see the return.

but we still collected, and continue to collect. hoping that one day, our collections will be our ticket to wealth. but the only way a collection will bring us wealth is if it enriches our life in the present.

if capitalism brought forth the idea of the collection for investment, isn’t it a radical act of anti-capitalism to collect for pleasure?

so yes, less is always more, but the definition of less is in the eye of the beholder/collector.