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Feeling guilty about my collection

Some of the things I have collected are very useful in an unarguably practical sense - I can wear them, and I will need to wear them, and eventually will wear them all out. Other things were purely decorative, but made our home look nice, and my husband likes them all. But what I have felt guilty about is my purse collection. I do still hope to use them all, and use them till they need to be donated....but I did overcollect. Many have been sold (though overall at a loss). Many have been donated. The ones that remain - a huge amount - I just love too much to get rid of. But if anyone saw them, they'd think I was nuts. They all have unique colors/patterns and make me very happy. They are all very practical. But I hide them and hope no one asks why I have so many bags when I use them. They make me feel very secure in public, too, because I find they can really make me look nice with minimal effort, and people treat me with more respect when I look nice - and because I love them, they are my happy thing/friend that I have with me outside the home. I love the fact that they make me feel prepared, containing all the things I need in any situation. I love holding them, the way they feel, I love the way they look on me. Sometimes I feel caught between feeling guilty about having so many things, like I'm a terrible materialistic person vs. feeling happy and satisfied in my beautiful collection, which is complete.

Comments

I have a rather "useless" collection of articles I cut out from TV guides etc. I don't want this comment to get too long, so here's a link to a more detailed explanation I posted in the forum before: Aspie porn - stuff we really love
Despite the happiness associated with the articles and the process of organizing the collection I feel kind of guilty about it as well.
In my case it's not so much about materalism, but more about feeling guilty to have such a completely useless collection and spending time with the associated process at all. I think it's partly caused by my mother who told me that it is useless and obsessive some times before. This lowers my enjoyment and makes me feel guilty afterwards when I see that I have just spent three hours on categorizing articles.

But as you explained about your purses my collection makes me happy as well. So I don't think it's actually useless. Just because others might not understand the comfort a collection provides, it doesn't mean that it is useless or bad to own such a collection like your purses collection that makes you feel secure in public or my collection that helps me to feel happy on my own while working on it.
 
I have a rather "useless" collection of articles I cut out from TV guides etc. I don't want this comment to get too long, so here's a link to a more detailed explanation I posted in the forum before: Aspie porn - stuff we really love
Despite the happiness associated with the articles and the process of organizing the collection I feel kind of guilty about it as well.
In my case it's not so much about materalism, but more about feeling guilty to have such a completely useless collection and spending time with the associated process at all. I think it's partly caused by my mother who told me that it is useless and obsessive some times before. This lowers my enjoyment and makes me feel guilty afterwards when I see that I have just spent three hours on categorizing articles.

But as you explained about your purses my collection makes me happy as well. So I don't think it's actually useless. Just because others might not understand the comfort a collection provides, it doesn't mean that it is useless or bad to own such a collection like your purses collection that makes you feel secure in public or my collection that helps me to feel happy on my own while working on it.
That is so true - I have been trying to keep that in mind, that it is NOT useless for us :-) It really does provide a comfort in a different way than people can. I'm glad you've found comfort in your own!
 

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Ambi
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