Upon seen the new photos, I thought about all of the art collectors out there, which made me think about people who collect sports memorabilia. This train of thoughts continued to thinking about the various materialistic items many of us collect to various degrees. We seem to each have a particular, peculiar taste in some sort of trinket, collectible, etc.
This isn't it, but it's neat.
I often wonder about the reasoning behind one's collection. Is it to ultimately gain money by accruing a unique collection of items that can be sold for a great sum? Is it to show off one's great wealth or keen eye for art, design, or flamboyancy? Is it in hopes of filling some psychological void left from a childhood or life that has thus far left us feeling incomplete? Or is it simply for pure enjoyment?
I think it's some sort of combination on a case by case basis. I've never really been into collectables. I mean, I guess when I was younger, we'd collect baseball cards, but I didn't actively seek anything--it was more look we have baseball cards. Being a somewhat frugal individual, I've often questioned why people collect such superfluous things. Why spend so much on materialism? When looking at those pictures, after this fairly rapid succession of thoughts crossed my mind, a new conclusion surfaced: What if we collected something more?
For some odd reason--I really don't know why--looking at those pictures made me smile. I felt, momentarily, a certain sense of happiness. BOOM! We should collect happiness! We should become collectors of happiness. Maybe all of these collections are procured for more than the aforementioned reasons. Maybe people collect things that make them happy. Note: I'd argue there is a difference between buying something TO make one happy and buying something THAT makes one happy. If you're doing something TO make you happy, it insinuates inorganic and contrived instead of something with an organic, innate quality.
I don't think each instance of collection is for the purposes of collecting happiness, but I think that's something we should strive for. We should strive to have more things THAT make us happy rather than things we think are going TO make us happy. Ya dig? For instance, my dad's a collector of CD's. His collection seems endless and it's perpetually growing. He does it because music brings happiness to his life. It's a part of his being; it's a part of who he is. Better yet, music allows him to do something I think collecting happiness should allow us to do: music allows him to be a distributor of happiness. That is, through music and sharing music he can bring happiness to others.
Someone who buys, for instance, a bunch of clothes for the purpose of looking good and being accepted as fashionable in society is looking to bring themselves happiness. The clothes don't actually make them happy (in this instance), but instead they're being used as a potential facilitator of happiness--they hope the clothes will gain acceptance, which they hope will make them happy. It's a gateway to the unknown with a hope they'll bring what the person desires. Someone who is looking to facilitate happiness can't possibly distribute it with any vigor or authenticity.
What's great about this notion is it isn't limited to materialism. For instance, we could consider time as a currency. Many times, we'll spend time superficially with the hopes it'll make us happy. I'm not sitting here saying things like video games or tv or texting is bad, but....think about it this way. We spend time texting each other to stay connected and feel a sense of togetherness, yet for some reason our generation is more depressed than past generations. For some reason, the texting leaves us feeling lonely because it makes us desire constant gratification. Television and video games are great ways to relax, but what value to they really add to our life collection? On the other hand, you could be spending time with people who make you happy or doing things that make you happy. Instead of sitting around moping watching TV, we could be visiting with loved ones, seeking loved ones, doing something impacting, bettering ourselves, etc. Heck it could even being dancing in the rain or sitting under a waterfall.
I can't speak for you but I can say for myself all the TV shows in the world cannot compare to a good night with friends. All the video games I can play cannot compare to going to the gym or writing. When I do things that naturally make me happy, I'm able to spread that happiness. I'm able to be a quirky, witty jokester that spreads joy to friends. I'm able to write posts like this post that people (some at least) actually read and take into consideration. I'm allowing myself to be both a collector and distributor of happiness.
I understand a lot of my notions sound good but are much harder to put forth into action than to conceive. I just think if we could sometimes take a step back and reevaluate some things we could collective make the world better. If we stopped trying to facilitate happiness by doing things like going on diets to fit societies standards and instead exercise or eat right because it makes you feel happy, we could be better. Random tangent, that's why I respect (and many others respect) Jennifer Lawrence so much. She just does what she wants and doesn't give two F***s. But I think it's important to note that she does what she wants, but because of that she distributes happiness. She's not a Bieber, who doesn't give a f is just a jerk-off to the world. She actually wants to let people know that things are going to be alright if you'd let them.
I challenge you, my friends, to become collectors of happiness and therefore distributors of happiness. You can collect it through various way: photography, basketball, music, volunteering, art, etc, etc, etc. In the end, isn't that a major goal of life? Don't do it for others do it for yourself because only when you can achieve happiness, not the inorganic superficial stuff, can you really relay such happiness to others. You can't take care of others if you can't take care of yourself. Let's get collecting.
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