Be a Collector

A couple of months ago, I solicited friends for their precious objects. A precious object is one whose value is invisible to the world but obvious to the owner. My friend Zak sent in photos of an electric tea kettle that had seen them through life turbulence. My Dad submitted his Dad's shaving kit which he called a horcrux, "part memory, part real." These were objects with interiority. By some alchemy, their owners had turned them from inert material to living pieces of memory, of connection, of aesthetic beauty.

I think more objects should be precious. It's a fantastic way to be attentive to the world! With a collector's mindset you can love a coin, a lamp, a cork¹, or a chair. By collecting, your objects become subjects, and as subjects they get subjectivity. You think about them carefully and treat them well. The rub here, however, is that you can't just acquire the objects for the sake of having them, or for what is, effectively, complicated tax fraud². You have to treat them as alert, and give them a certain measure of devotion and attention.

Being a collector can narrow your aperture. My Mom was on a beach recently with a couple of friends. One of them started to pick up rocks and they all became engrossed in the task. But at the same time, the sand, the waves, the sky had shrunk from their field of attention. They were rock collectors, not beachgoers.

Still, in a world desperately trying to capture our attention, I would rather be looking at rocks than screens³. And I do believe that when we practice the curiosity of collecting, we deepen the same muscle that lets us connect with others.

So if you have a precious object, send it to me!