If you're anything like me, you collect things.
I've always been a collector, since I was very small and my dad told me I could only bring as many smooth, round rocks back from the beach as I could carry in my arms. All growing up, I'd return from the woods with twigs and flowers, the latter of which I'd press between the pages of a phonebook until they were dry. I gathered stickers from the doctor's office, clippings from magazines, keys from garage sales, and old coins from wherever I could get them.
It seems wrong to let beautiful things go to waste, left where no one will ever notice them. I love the fact that as soon as I pick something up, it becomes part of my story, and will forever be a memory preserved in tangible form. The fun is in knowing that, when I find beauty in something many people would overlook, I can make that beauty apparent to everyone else too. Collecting is partially nostalgia and partially art.
If you too are a collector, next time someone is teasing you for keeping a stash of clothing tags and sea shells, offer them a piece of your collection. Share it. Tell them the stories behind your favorite pieces. Perhaps you'll teach them to see the world as you do: a place full of wonder and beauty.
