Why Do People Collect Things?

The other day, we were shopping at Wal-mart and as we checked out, I looked on the display case behind us and saw hundreds of collectible cards. They had Pokemon, Magic, and many others that I had never even heard of.

So, what happened then? I wondered why do people feel the need to collect (sometimes inane) things?

Well, when trying to analyze any of the oddities of humanity, I usually start with the topic I know the most about...myself.

I, myself, am a collector of books. When I was younger I would save up my money so I could buy series. If I didn't have every book in the series, I didn't feel complete. I bought every series with the intention that someday I would read them to my children, but I never bought a book unless I had the intention of reading it again myself. If I didn't enjoy a book, I wouldn't buy it. I was a voracious reader though, and by the time I graduated from high school, I had a couple bookshelves full of books.

My collection didn't end there. In college I continued to buy books, but I also began to collect DVD series. By the time I went on my mission, I had the entire Stargate and Macgyver series.

For me, it was because when I felt the urge to watch a show, I wanted it available at my fingertips. Showing off the collection was a side-benefit, but my books and my movies don't sit on the shelves collecting dust. They are frequently read and re-read by me.

When Grig and I got married, he added his collection to mine.  We have probably too many books. We have two large bookshelves full, and most of our books are still in storage. We would like to have them all out, but we just don't have room now.

So, collecting things that you love and enjoy makes sense to me. I guess if you love the game Pokemon and play it frequently, I could understand collecting the cards. Probably most collections are started out of love or admiration for the thing being collected.

Rare coins can be interesting (and worth a great deal of money). However, for people who collect pets or children, the reason behind it may be something else entirely.

The Wikipedia article "Psychology of Collecting" stated a few different reasons for collecting. Usually collections can be passive and have emotional attachments (such as in the case of my books). One person related the following memory:

Oxlade- Vaz describes the intense emotional bond she had with her grandmother, and the rich heart-warming memories she had amassed at her grandma’s house as a child and even as an adult. Her grandmother, a product of the Great Depression, "saved" everything. As a child, the author recalls the loving and gentle way her grandmother organized seemingly ordinary items: rubber bands were neatly bound together and artfully displayed on the mantle. Tops of pens of all colors and sizes were neatly arranged in drawers and bins. Artificial flowers, saved from the dumpster decorated every room in the house. At her grandmother’s death, Oxlade-Vaz recalls the overwhelmingly pleasant emotions that overcame her as she sorted through her grandma’s collections. Though not valuable, the author kept these collections to remember her grandma’s thrifty, sensible, wisdom—reminders of the graceful way her grandmother was able to provide seemingly useless items dignity and respect.

However, collecting is not always so harmless. I found very interesting comment from a collector:

Petrulis also admits there is a dark side to collecting, providing some support for views that certain passions can be bad. "It gets addictive," says Petrulis, "just like gambling, drugs or sex. It's like putting a coin in a slot machine. It might not pay off this time, so you put another quarter in and keep doing it until you are tapped out or finally hit the jackpot."

I think that is true. Anything can become harmful if done to extremes. When collecting moves from a hobby to an obsession, it can become very detrimental. Other, better things, might be pushed to the sidelines in the pursuit of collector's items. People go bankrupt collecting things they can't afford, lose their families in the pursuits of their items, and starve themselves to feed their obsessions. Hoarders are a case in point.

The article talked a bit about hoarders. It states:

There are also times when collecting is not pleasant for anyone. These are the collectors that have surpassed healthy collecting behavior and are considered hoarders. When a collection becomes hoarding is when it also becomes pathological. Hoarding is pathological because it interferes with living a normal daily life. Steven W. Anderson, a neurologist who studies hoarding behavior, posits that the need to collect stems from a basic drive to collect basic supplies such as food. This drive originates in the subcortical and limbic portions of the brain. According to Anderson, people need their prefrontal cortex to determine what supplies are worth saving (or hoarding). Anderson has found that many compulsive hoarders with brain injury had suffered damage to a region of their brain that regulates cognitive behaviors like decision making, information processing, and organizing behavior—the prefrontal cortex. Those with brain injury who did not display hoarding behavior, did not have damage to theirfrontal cortex, but showed damage distributed throughout the right and left hemispheres of their brain.

So, be careful that collections don't pass the realm of healthy, natural human behaviors and interfere with the more important things in your life. I've known of people who are pet hoarders and spend all their money feeding their pets while they live in filth and starve. It's a pretty tragic lifestyle, and not a  healthy one.

Grig and I have had to draw a line on book collecting as well. He has known a few people who used all their money on books and had nothing left to live on. We try to carefully budget our money and only get books when we can afford it. We try to only buy healthy and wholesome books that are going to bring a good spirit into our home and be appropriate for our children to read.

Family should come first before things. Even if Kevin were to rip up one of my favorite books, it's just a thing. It's not more important than my son. If it ever began to
became more important, I would know I had a serious problem.

I learned a lot today trying to answer my question. If you have anything you want to add, please teach me. I would love to hear your perspectives.

When Two Pets Meet...Dog vs. Snake

Picture of our post-clipped dog.  To compare, go here.

Yesterday, I fed our snake.  His name is Oryx.  He is a blizzard morph corn snake.  He is getting bigger and has a beautiful white skin.  His eyes are red, but he isn't an albino.  Albinism is a random genetic mutation.  A blizzard morph is a consistent color variation.

Anyway, the nice thing about snakes is that you don't have to feed them more than once a week.  This was going to be the first time we fed the snake since we got the dog.  I was a little worried how she would react around him.  I don't know that she has been around snakes very much. 

I went into the snake cage to find Oryx.  At first, I didn't see him (he loves to burrow) and I had almost decided to just feed him in his cage.

Since we first got him, we have made a habit of never feeding him inside of his cage.  Instead, we take him out and feed him in a special box.  Our reasoning was that we didn't want him to associate food with his cage.  This is supposed to help prevent him from trying to bite us when we are removing him.  So far, it's been pretty effective.  We also use tongs instead of hands to give the mouse to him.  This way he doesn't associate food with hands either. 

However, yesterday I was tempted to fudge.  I was home alone with a dog and a baby, and I wasn't sure if they would leave the snake alone while he was eating.  Then, I noticed that the snake was in his paper towel tube.  Grig cut it along the bottom so we could easily get him out, and so I decided I would just pick up the whole tube and move it into the box.  Then I would feed him.  Brilliant idea, right?

I had the (thawed) mouse in tongs in one hand, and I was attempting to pick up the snake with the other.  Suddenly, the snake slithered out of the paper towel cardboard and fell on the floor, right in front of the dog!

Surprised, I hesitated, expecting the worst.  Visions of the dog rushing forward and attacking the snake flashed through my head as I hurriedly put the paper towel roll back in the cage and whirled around.  Luckily, all the dog did was tuck in her tail a bit and avoid looking at the snake.  It turns out she doesn't really like him.  I picked up the snake, which was also surprised by his fall, and put him in his feeding box.  I then gave him the mouse, which he seized with exuberance. He was hungry.

Once he had finished eating, I picked him up and let the dog look at him again, but she just avoided him.  That was good.  A much better outcome than I could have hoped.  At least I didn't have to worry about her eating him.  Maybe not friends, but a peaceful conclusion nonetheless.  I think the snake has more to worry about from Kevin.

Things are going quite well.  Expect a vlog tomorrow about our first week with a new dog!

The Disturbing Similarities Between Child and Pet Adoption Sites

 

Back when we didn't have a dog yet, I spent some time perusing petfinder.com and adoptapet.com.  Both were wonderful sites for finding rescue pets who needed homes.  Online, there are thousands of videos showing pets who have been rescued from the streets and are in need of "forever homes".  They ask people who want to help to donate money, or go into foster care.

People spend millions paying for their pets every year.  Taking them to the vet, buying them toys, and donating to pets that are in need of homes.  I've even seen cases where concerned and generous people will pay to help a dog have corrective surgery so that it can live a normal life for only a few more years.
I'm not saying that's bad.  I love animals, and I appreciate all the people out there in the world who do their best to help living creatures in need.  However, in 2011, people spent $61 BILLION on pets, and every year that number continues to rise.  People spent roughly three times more on pet costumes than they do on costumes for their children. Here the article where I got that information if you want to read it: "Millions on Pet Halloween Costumes? Why We Spend More and More on Pets"  In this article, it mentions that part of the reason for this trend is that Americans are waiting longer to have children, and then living longer after their children leave home.  However, because they still feel the need to nurture, they buy pets, and then treat them like the children they don't have.

Another interesting article "Why America's Falling Birth Rate is Sensational News for the Pet Industry".  This article talks about how the majority of people who are spending so much on their pets are those with lots of money and no children.  However, it mentions that in some homes with children, the pets are now on equal ground and treated identically.

That makes me a little sick, I'm not going to lie.  As much as I love our dog, Kevin, and other children that we are going to have, will always come first.  She is a pet.  They are my offspring.

I'll admit, I've been occasionally tempted to be a foster-care home for a pet in need, but then I remembered that there was an entirely more important type of foster care system out there.

The foster care of children. Why are we so willing to help an animal in need, but we ignore the cries of hungry children all over the world?

I have a few friends who foster and adopt children.  One of them recently was explaining why they do that to me.  I found the conversation fascinating.  The couple now has five children total and two are foster with pending adoption.  She told me that if you are going to foster children you need to be willing to adopt them on a permanent basis.  "Children can accept that their original home had issues," she said, "but when they come to your home, that doesn't have any problems and you send them away, the child begins to ask 'What is wrong with me?'"  She told me that when they decided to foster, they made the decision that they would only foster to adopt.  She then continued, "If my own child had something horrible happen to them, I wouldn't send them away when they misbehaved.  If they come into my home, they become my own children."

That was a really neat conversation.  I'm seriously thinking about fostering and adopting now.  Right now, we're not at the right place for it, but eventually we might be.  Children are more important than pets.  This is an absolute fact.  People have argued that we are just animals and we are no better than them, thus we should treat them the same as we would be treated, but even animals will care for their young before anything else.  Shouldn't we do the same?  Children are our future, animals are not, regardless if 1 million people have left their pets as their sole benefactor. 

Today, another friend posted a link to an adoption site with children in need.  Here's the link: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs124/1101154865724/archive/1115286336660.html I went there, and to my horror, found almost the exact same phrases used that were used at the pet adoption sites.

"These siblings will soon be separated!" "Gets along well with others" "Controls impulses" "Health Concerns" "Special Needs"  "Awaiting her forever home"

It sounded like the descriptions were written by the same people!

I don't know about you, but if it came down to helping a dog that was starving on the side of the street and helping a child, I would help the child.  Ideally we would do both, but really, the child should come first.  I wish we spent as much time and money and youtube videos advertising for those children in need as we do for those animals.