The difference between collecting and hoarding...

I read somewhere....

"The more things you have...the more things have YOU..."

And somewhere else...

"Contentment is wanting what you have."

Personally, I have discovered that all the joy of "the hunt", all the celebration of a "great deal", and that (all too brief) feeling of contentment when finally getting that "one more ....." (Fill in the blank), has not equaled, let alone surpassed, the level of aggravation or concern from simply having too much stuff. I realized one day that I was tripping over unused stuff to get to stuff I wanted to use more. That was a revelation in itself....

One significant difference between "having things" and "hoarding things" as far as I can tell is the VALUE of the things. At least in the hoarding shows I've seen, there are newspapers or magazines, or even bags of "stuff" floor to ceiling. I think it is quite a bit different than having, say, a pile of Dynasonic parts in a box, or a stack of cymbals. Why? Well, a reasonable person could justify "dumping" 20 years of newspapers I think. But a box of drum parts? Not so easy to just "get rid if them" as people may suggest. Not saying it justifies keeping ALL those parts, but it takes a bit of effort to move them out of the house...

I have one 7 piece Tama kit and one extra Tama bass drum that would EASILY serve any drumming need I have-today or tomorrow. I have three snare drums that could satisfy me as well. But getting to the place where I can part with my two mid-late 60s Rogers Kits? That my friends has proven to be very difficult...lol.
 
I read somewhere....

"The more things you have...the more things have YOU..."

And somewhere else...

"Contentment is wanting what you have."

Personally, I have discovered that all the joy of "the hunt", all the celebration of a "great deal", and that (all too brief) feeling of contentment when finally getting that "one more ....." (Fill in the blank), has not equaled, let alone surpassed, the level of aggravation or concern from simply having too much stuff. I realized one day that I was tripping over unused stuff to get to stuff I wanted to use more. That was a revelation in itself....

One significant difference between "having things" and "hoarding things" as far as I can tell is the VALUE of the things. At least in the hoarding shows I've seen, there are newspapers or magazines, or even bags of "stuff" floor to ceiling. I think it is quite a bit different than having, say, a pile of Dynasonic parts in a box, or a stack of cymbals. Why? Well, a reasonable person could justify "dumping" 20 years of newspapers I think. But a box of drum parts? Not so easy to just "get rid if them" as people may suggest. Not saying it justifies keeping ALL those parts, but it takes a bit of effort to move them out of the house...

I have one 7 piece Tama kit and one extra Tama bass drum that would EASILY serve any drumming need I have-today or tomorrow. I have three snare drums that could satisfy me as well. But getting to the place where I can part with my two mid-late 60s Rogers Kits? That my friends has proven to be very difficult...lol.

fight-club-gif.gif



My thing is if it has no value, I get rid of it.

I have 5 drum sets:
  • Tama Rockstars: I can't get rid of them because they were my first drum set.
  • Pork Pie USA Customs: These stay at church. I don't move them.
  • Pearl Sessions (Mario Edition): I don't get rid of these because (a.) I don't anyone would want them because of the finish, and most importantly (b.) it would break my son's heart because he loves video games.
  • PDP CX (Larry Edition): This is my practice set. They don't get torn down.
  • Ludwig Centennials: These stay in the cases, ready to go at a moment's notice so I don't ever have to set up and tear down between practice and playing gigs.

This is all I'll ever need. Heck, it's more than I'll ever need. I have a lot, but I don't consider myself a hoarder.
 
I think I have the opposite of "hoarding sndrome".

I can't stand any clutter whatsoever. I'm frequently sorting through my stuff to see what I can get rid of.

I think it might be because I'm a bit of a nomad. I've moved house, country, and continent many times in my life and I hate having to deal with an unnecessary amount of belongings every time. I think it was Sonny Rollins who said "belongings is not where it's at" or something like that.

I've often found that many of the things one deems worthy of keeping will later lose their importance. I remember a large box I had with some memorabilia that I sorted out. Only considered half of the contents to be keepers. A few years later and half of the stuff that previously had "keep for life" status got weeded out. That large box became a very small box in the end.

The more the world becomes a "selfie" obsessed, record-every-moment-for-posterity kind of society where every trivial item is important, the more I just want to scale back. I don't subscribe to the view that everything must be kept "because you might need it one day". I Wonder how many closets, garages, and storage units are filled up with random stuff that will never see the light of day again. Just look at that TV programm where they auction of the contents of abandoned storage units. Crazy.

Of course I have neither the money nor the space to hoard or collect anything.
But even if I did, I don't see myelf having 10 ride cymbals. I'm one of the nutcases who's always hoping to find the holy grail of rides that does everything. You believe it exists, don't you? (cue the Indiana Jones music and an image of Harrison Ford holding aloft one ultra shimmery beauty of a cymbal)

My wife is like that she'll systematically get rid of stuff. I'm a tinkerer and a repurposer. I realized the other day that nearly every, nut, bolt, washer, and stand I had was used in some way, and needed more nuts and bolts. I don't like things sitting around unused.

I'd like to turn over (trade or sell) some of my cymbals and get some Wuhans and gongs, but the expense of selling and buying keeps me from doing so, the mark down is too big. I met a guy that was sort of a hoarder with a huge amount of really cool gear via craigslist, he wanted to trade but he was trying to make money on the deal, and his stuff was sort of beat up and didn't sound as good. He even had my exact same model of cymbal, so we could compare.
 
I have a pretty nice sized arsenal in drums and cymbals but mostly all get used with the bands so I justify that collection in that they are there for a purpose. I buy things as I feel that I need them for an application, not that it need them for the sake of needing them- I haven't actually bought anything new in the last 15months or so.

I did sell off a Gretsch kit last year and actually came close to buying it back last week, ultimately I passed up the purchase as I sold it in the first place as it wasn't being used and that would have been a hoarding purchase. Glad common sense prevailed in the end.

My other half however has seen me typing this post and she's told me I'm a hoarder so I guess that shuts me up......ha
 
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If you actually play a good portion of your gear at least occasionally, neither term is really appropriate. It's more like a toolbox. "Collection" has connotations of included items being for display rather than use, and an implicit acknowledgement of selection for resale value, which may or may not actually be the case.
 
We don't own, collect, or hoard squat-it's just an illusion cause when you die you aren't taking it with you. We are just stewards of stuff for a short while-and if you take care of it other people can enjoy it and become stewards too long after you're gone (I think about that with vintage drum collectors and past owners).
 
If it's your gear, it's a collection. If it's someone else's gear, they're hoarding :)
 
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