collecting ourselves

My second Toastmasters speech:

Collectors and what they collect fascinates me. But why we collect interests me even more, because collecting, I would argue, is directly linked to our sense of identity. Our collections tell us much about who we are, how we see ourselves, and who we want to be. I’d like to explore this idea from a few different angles, which I’ll call memory, value, method, and identity.

Memory is a powerful motivator when it comes to collecting. What we collect often reminds us of something, somewhere, someone, or sometime. For many of us, collections are often linked with a sense of nostalgia – for another time in one’s own life, or for another era altogether. The Teddy Bear collector, for example, might associate her collection with a beloved relative, or a fond memory from childhood. Or there’s the person who collects a T-shirt from every place he’s traveled, as a way of capturing his memories of each location.

My penguin collection includes figurines acquired as recently as last month, yet my collection will always have a link to my childhood, which is when I first started collecting penguins. And each penguin has its own story and memory associated with it. So, physical objects seem to connect us, particularly collectors, to other people, places, and times in very powerful and positive ways.

The memories associated with our collections are clearly quite compelling, but so are the other ways in which we place value on our collections. For some, collecting is a very serious matter, and the collectible objects can be quite valuable, as is the case with the fine art collector, whose investment in her collection can be quite considerable. For others, the monetary investment is far less important than the personal value of the collection. Or perhaps it’s a bit of both. I’m thinking of Linda’s “sacred stash” of quilting fabrics that is so precious to her.

The very method or process of collecting itself – the hunt and acquisition of rare antiques, for example – captivates others. Collectors may spend countless hours researching, seeking, and acquiring their objects of desire. And each collector has his or her own goal related to their collection – which is not always to complete the collection, although completing a set can be quite satisfying for a collector.

My goal over the past few years has actually been to slow the expansion of my collection by weeding out penguins I am no longer attached to, and fine-tune my collection to include penguins made of glass, stone, and metal, as opposed to plastic or stuffed-animal penguins.

I am particularly interested in the way collectors often have their own so-called rules for their collection. What qualifies as an appropriate object for one’s collection? A vintage book collector might only look for first editions, or only books of a specific genre or by a particular author.

In my case, I developed a very clear idea of what sorts of penguins were acceptable for my collection – realistic rather than cutesy. And this developed over a period of time for me, in part as a reaction to another common phenomenon in collecting – what I call the externally imposed collection. This is when other people acquire collectibles for us. In my situation, people started collecting penguins for me, whether I would have chosen them or not. It took years to wean friends and family off the habit.

When people collect for us, it’s because they identify us with our collections. Which leads me to my final point about collecting – how our identities are connected to our collecting.  A collection can define something about our personalities, our longings, and our ideals. It may set us apart from others or make us feel unique. While he may have much in common with other collectors, the antique glass bottle collector, for example, feels a sense of pride about his collecting niche, and he differentiates himself from, say, the Beanie Baby collector.

Conversely, there can be a feeling of camaraderie about being a particular kind of collector. Star Trek memorabilia collectors probably enjoy their group identity and feel a sense of connection to others who collect the same genre and share a similar passion. The same might be said about stamp collectors, coin collectors, doll collectors, and so on.

Finally, I think that what we collect or what we wish we could collect says something, too, about whom we want to be. If I had the means and the space, I would love to be an art collector. I would collect art made by artists whom I know and I would collect art that I find beautiful, intriguing, or inspiring. I’d love to hear what you would collect if you had no limitations. I hope you chose to share with me you collecting dreams.

Collecting is a very broad topic and I’ve only just touched on a few ideas. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that you are what you collect, but I will certainly argue that who you are and what you collect are interconnected, that the stuff with which we surround ourselves bears a direct relationship to our sense of self.