Another of my compulsive collecting areas that I was absorbed with for about 3 years, in the early 70's, during which I purchased hundreds of glass paperweights.....then I redirected this compulsion to Chinese, Greek and Middle-Eastern seals, Glass Intaglios and Austrian Pottery. I've been studying this history of compulsivity and trying to figure out the vectors at play in my redirections. I have assumed that this "collector" mentality is ingrained at a genetic level, because it has manifest in many of my relatives who are linked by my maternal grandmother's lineage. One of my uncles is unable to move through parts of his home, which is beautiful....but.......is absolutely packed with "collections" of just about everything one could imagine......My Mother had the most peculiar habit of collecting "wrapped" gifts......hundred and hundreds of them, which were never opened! The wrapping was the art! If one collected 50 categories, each with 100 "collectibles".....do the math... As a child of ten I collected stamps and coins, which could be stored in a chest......so things could be kept neat and organized, much to my parents' liking....Then, I began to collect phonograph records, from the earliest cylinder recordings in shellac to 78's, then 45's........and, on into the present, to Cd's and Dvd's and, most recently, Blu-rays........By the time I left for college, my room at "home" was filled with framed art, globes, aquariums, birds in various types of "wire-homes", mineral specimens and clothing......lots of clothing. I've always wondered how I will ever "downsize" as most people my age seem to do. Hmmmm, I'd have to give up my storage facilities, I suppose.........I've thought about divesting my collections of a thousand or so "things", but I'm not quite motivated enough right now.......
