Heroes Not Zombies

Here is my box of curiosities. These are objects, some of them natural, some of them worked by human hand, some of them found on my travels, but most of them given to me by patients, colleagues and friends.

Each one of these objects connects me to a person or to an event. Each of them connects me to an experience and to memories.

But actually, the truth is, I just delight in them. I like to hold them, to run my fingers over them. I like to look at them. I like to wonder about them.

We all collect objects.

Mostly we don’t collect objects very consciously or deliberately, but we find things, buy things, receive things, and we keep them. Sometimes we collect them together. Sometimes we scatter them or spread them across our house. Sometimes we gather them into special spaces or places – on a desk (this box sat on the desk in my consulting room), on a shelf, in a display cabinet, or beside the bed.

Why not take a few minutes today to look around your house, or your room, and see what objects you have. Do you remember where they came from? Do you have certain memories attached to them? Do they connect you? And, if so, to whom or to what?

I read recently that objects of significance are becoming very popular in contemporary home design. In my grandparents day they all seemed to have “display cabinets” for their favourite objects, but that type of furniture has long ago fallen our of fashion. Will they come back? Or will we find different ways of gathering, collecting, and displaying what is important to us?