Collecting Memories, Stories, and Ideas.

I’m going to have issues naming this post.  I wonder, as I write this first paragraph, what I’ll go for.  Will it be Eclectic Collector, or One Kid’s Toy is Another Man’s Collector’s Item?  There’s no telling, but I know one big rule while writing, its never name something completely until you are done, because you never know, a better name just might come to you.

Fact is though, I am a collector.  I always have been.  I love surrounding myself with the little things that look so interesting.  Yeah, sure everyone gets their panties in a bunch with what all these things are called.  Action Figures, Collectibles, Toys.  In the end, I don’t care.  It gives me something to look at an imagine about when I need a quick break from reality.



And yeah, it’s a crazy collection.  From a Lego Darth Vader Keychain to a devil Smurf.  Joey from Hello Kitty, and a very large Alien Queen.  I’ve got a small collection of easily recognizable Star Wars stuff (including a signed limited edition print of Wedge Antilles) to Garfield and Pookey stuff animals from when I was a child.  Everything on this disk has some memory attached to it.

And that’s why I keep it all.  Not only are some of the things just really interesting sculptures, but the memories with some of them are quite grand.  It’s a shame people try to pigeon hole it all into some category.  On thefreedictionary.com, the 2nd listing in the definition of a toy is: “Something of little importance; a trifle.”

While most of this stuff really isn’t ‘important’ per say, it has great value to a mind that needs distraction, a mind that needs to escape.  Life is a definite place of stress, its hard not to get caught up in it, which ends up killing any urge to write at all.  Some of these things I have collected are horrors, some are childhood fantasies, others are cute, but some are just romantic ideals.

As I look up at the tiger painting staring down at me, I know that I’ve enjoy this collection.  It gives me the perfect escapism to find my writing edge.  There’s nothing like jostling the memory and imagination to rattle out some form of plot or idea to write about.

Well...maybe just maybe I’ve come up with my title, but then, you already knew this, because you probably read it before you read this.  Either way, I hope it’s a good one.

So tell me, do you keep any knickknacks around that help jostle your memory?  Are you a collector of items?  Are they rare, or just neat stuff?  Do they hold stories, memories, or riddles?  Do you have lots, or just one special one?  Please comment below and tell me!  I’m always interested in people’s curiosities....

–Dan