soft culture

My cousin and nephew are visiting from the UK, and this morning my childhood rattan rocking horse suddenly materialised in the living room. I have not seen that horse in 2 decades and in the course of moving house 3 times, I am amazed that it is still around. It got me thinking.

I was brought up with a "waste not, want not" mentality. My school textbooks were handed down to my sibling, and all my homework and notes were stored away. I'll bet my mother can still produce my primary school math file if you ask her. So likewise, my drawers became filled with stationery, little trinkets and my cupboards and shelves filled with paper.

All that changed when I went to the U.S. There were four of us staying in an apartment with two singles and a double, so in the middle of the year we would all swap room so everyone got a semester in a single room. I am generally quite a tidy person, so I was quite amazed that my messy roommate effected his move in a much lesser time than I did. But then the reason became apparent - he just had much less stuff because at the end of the previous years he would get rid of everything - notes, homework, textbooks.

It wasn't easy, but I soon adopted his mindset, and took my first steps in the modern consumer society. I got rid of all my lecture notes and work - if I ever needed anything again I could just print it from the soft copy. Soon this extended into clothes, household items and especially those useless souvenirs people always seem to give on birthdays or after travels, because 'it is the thought that counts'. After all, they are all replaceable, because money is the ultimate soft copy. And I just don't like to deal with all this unecessary stuff. When I get my own place, I intend to keep it small and minimalist, and throw everything else away.

Occasionally I battle feelings of guilt, especially because my parents have not been enlightened (or corrupted) with this new mindset. At home, it is very difficult to throw away perfectly good clothes simply because I don't wear them anymore, and I need the space for new ones. There are items in my house older than I am - my father's geometry set that he has kept since secondary school, some of the furniture and many of the books. The house is filled to overflowing with my family's accumulated stuff. But will it ever be useful again, or is it just taking up space and gathering dust?

I guess I'll see whether my little cousin actually likes the antique rocking horse, and decide if such things have lasting value.