Burning question of the day.

[featherynscale]

I'm having a conversation with lexpendragon about "stuff". How much stuff do you need? How much do you have around even though you don't need it? I'm in a pretty loose phase about stuff right now. My general tendency is to minimize the stuff, but at the moment, I'm living in a house that also serves as a prop and costume closet, a working art and jewelry studio, and a gathering-place for several groups. This all contributes to a vastly increased level of 'stuff' about. Still, I do the best I can. (Note: I never count books in my considerations of stuff I don't need. All books automatically make the cut.)

One of the places that I fall down in my quest to minimize the useless stuff is with gifts. Of course, people give you things that you wouldn't buy yourself. That's the whole point of gifts. And many people give me things that fit very well into my concept of things I need or can use, which is great. On the other hand, some people, notably my mother, give me lots of 'home decor' sorts of knick-knacky things, which aren't really good for anything, except making the place look nice, and even if you count that as useful (I waver on the subject), there's only so much stuff you can have out making the place look nice before the trick begins to backfire, and the place begins to look cluttered.

And once someone gives me a thing, I keep it. I will keep it forever (or until I can't remember who gave it to me, which is Like The Same Thing), in large part because I don't want to hurt the feelings of the person who gave it to me. Or because it makes me think of the person who gave it to me. Either way, it's there, and I will never get rid of it.

Also, I am told on a regular basis that my model of what is and is not offensive to other people is way off the mark most of the time. If that's true, it may be true that getting rid of gifts is not necessarily going to offend people at all. Hence the poll. Please drop a vote, if you would. Also, obviously, the answers are somewhat broader categories than they may seem, and still cannot possibly cover the entire realm of human behavior, so I would deeply appreciate it if people who wished to vote would choose the response closest to their actual feelings on the subject. Thanks.

[Poll #913235]

Comments

[zylch.livejournal.com]

While I'm not particularly bothered if you regift things I give you, I will ask the following since you've expressed near-critical-mass: Eventually I will make it up to Wales, and I was thinking that if I saw something small and amusingly Welsh-pride, I would get it for you. Would you in fact like such a thing and be amused by having it? Or would you prefer that I take a photo and email it to you saying "This could have been yours?"

fionnabhar is totally getting an imported cornish pasty when I come back, though, even if it will be a day old by the time I can get it to her. I've found that they're still acceptable two days after purchase.

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

Squee!

[infintysquared.livejournal.com]

Someday I have to meet up with you guys, and make pasties from my Yooper ancestry recipe book. Mmm, pasties. The things that make Turnip a properly edible foodstuff.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

If you feel compelled to buy me something, I would prefer that it be either small, or useful, or consumable. I am deeply amused by the whole Welsh pride concept, though. A photo of crazy Welsh people doing crazy Welsh things is just as good :)