last updated: 2026-08-14
i think i keep things is because they represent “potential”. the potential to experience new things, and look back at old things. the potential to have things i like and do stuff with them again.
i have plenty of games i have never played but i don’t want to throw them away because i could POTENTIALLY play them, and they could POTENTIALLY become my favorite and most impactful game of all time.
it’s through this lense that i imagine “having things” as an extension of the self. it’s an extension of what you like, and what you cherish, what keeps you up at night, what dreams you have, what things you wish to do.
NOW: i think there’s also a sunk-cost fallacy to the idea that: possessions represent potential. if everything has potential then you want to keep that potential and maybe use it up one day. but if objects aren’t ever being used then the "potential" is purely hypothetical, and it’s not really all that valuable.
you perceive something as more valuable because you have it. you don’t have to waste energy to get it. you don't want to waste the potential energy. and yet you don’t do anything with it. so there are two possibilities. either (1) the object has less value than you perceive it to have. (2) you’re failing to utilize things to their potential.
i think when it comes to hoarding the issue lies with option 1. i’m describing: bins full of “stuff”, the contents of which are unclear. what is in those bins? i’m not sure but it’s there so it MUST be valuable right? THAT is a disconnect between the object and the perceived value of the object.
in my case? i had a nice little table that i never used. guess what? i threw it away. i don’t need it. in fact it was clogging up my room because of the strange size ratio! instead i actually used furniture that helped my space, not fought against it.
i also had a bunch of old games which no longer worked. i was holding on to them because i’ve had them since childhood. and it was at that moment that i realized i want to throw some of them away. some of those games were BAD and they weren’t really integral to who i am. on the other hand? there’s a few games that ARE integral to who i am. and i definitely want to keep those.
there are a lot of notebooks. i should start using those! i have a couple of games i find really valuable to me. i should figure out a way to display them proudly! i’m not saying everything you have MUST be functional. a lot of things we have are purely sentimental. and that’s okay! that within itself is a function. i think you should be more thoughtful about WHAT and HOW you display things you care about.
for example - photos. perhaps they’re scattered about in a box that no one’s ever looked back at. instead turn it into a book and place it on a coffee table so that you can occasionally glance at it and look back fondly at your past. games you never play? you should pick them up and play them instead of returning to a single game.