sentiments for old things

A lot of old folks are very sentimental about old things. Recently I found that a neighbour has a big heavy urn for storing water and another neighbour still uses her very very old set of furniture.


" It is better than a plastic pail, " the man said.

" The wood is very good. These chairs are very sturdy. Now even you have money you cannot buy them, " the woman said.

I was thinking: If the things could not be used anymore, would they still keep them in the house. Most likely no.

I also know a sentimental couple who were teachers. They still keep all their old files, magazines and books. There are a few shelves and cupboards of them, all dusty and I think not touched for years. They are reluctant to throw away any of these things. Besides these, they also have a lot of other very old things in their flat. It makes the place look congested, dusty and dim. I feel that it has an adverse effect on their health and spirits.

Sentiment alone is not a good reason for people to keep old things. Otherwise they would have tonnes of old things in the house. I think it must have significance to them, for example the first watch you owned or your earliest music player although you can't use it anymore. Furthermore, it must not be too big to be kept or too expensive/troublesome to maintain. Then you may want to look at them occasionally.

If not, I think it is best to dispose of them.


I was reading the comments at Victor's blog and Uncle Dicko has this reason why folks like old things:

" Maybe for some of us, the internal archives in our brain (memory recall) are functioning better with sentimental, old scenes than jazzy, new ones. That's why many of us love old things, collect old things..and still love our old clothes v much!"