Great things are made great by the people who value them. Antiques are only as valuable as their collectors deem them as such. There are a lot of instances when a collector’s item looks old, ugly and so-nothing-of-value-at-all. But just looking at the face of the collector lightening up with pride and oozing with confidence as he presents his collections, warms your heart as well. Then the item doesn’t look so bad after all. There are hundreds of reasons why people collect weird items.
There are at least three major reasons why. The very first reason is very obvious and so indispensable that without which, collecting is pointless. It is the satisfaction the collector gets from the things he keeps. We all get satisfied from doing or not doing, keeping or throwing items that are either close to us or those we hate. This is also in relation to the second reason of being so attached to those items. Our attachment to them brings us to want to get more of it, even paying too much and sometimes way beyond our means. The first and the second reasons are interrelated. When we are so attached to something, upon getting what we want, we are so satisfied that we want nothing more at the moment. This is a very good outlet for those who are in distress, in pain or in any extreme emotions that need coping up with. Aside from friends and family, anyone can get comfort from collecting antiques. This is way better than self-destructing means of coping up. In time, some people upon getting better or getting over with those emotions are able to give up this hobby of collecting. Still, others don’t; even after moving on. But of course, it doesn’t follow that when one collects, he is emotionally disturbed. Others collect for the sake of collecting. Others still, because they don’t have other ways of spending their money. The last major reason is that other collectors want to experience the past through the antique they’re collecting. There is that nostalgic feeling of using or keeping the item as if he has really been there at that time. The mere possession of the classic item transports them to that point in time when it was first made and widely used. These people could have existing problems of the feeling of wanting to belong. It could be that they feel rejected. In turn, they seek comfort on the thought that should they have existed in the past, they would belong. But then again, reasons are but mere illusions.
They exist only on the minds of their possessors. Whatever they may be, for as long as the collector gets something positive out of it, then it’s all good
