'A Few of my Favorite Things' for VIE August 2021

Suzanne’s past collection of very rare ‘tea cultivation’ dishes from the Qianlong period c. 1750. (Credit: Christie’s catalogue.)

“Whether we have the brio of an heiress or the confidence of a young boy with pocket money, we can find objects we want to live with at any age. I began collecting as a child in Africa by peeling stamps off letters. A generation later, one of my sons was an aspiring collector in middle school; first Matchbox cars, then on to belt buckles, paid for by his weekend job at a car repair shop. His experience mirrored other collectors who desired to find the choicest objects and discard others as inferior or not up to snuff once he learned more. He faced another common collector dilemma when his belt buckle collection expanded in number: where do I store or display all the items? Yet another problem surfaced because of this particular collection; the size of the buckles themselves expanded, with some as large as salad plates! His imagined future growth must have played a role — a preteen wondering if he would ever be big enough to wear such belt buckles!”

Read more about building and displaying your own personal collection of treasures in the latest issue of VIE Magazine HERE!

Self Love Series: Psychic Home

There could be a yard sale in your future…

Getting rid of stuff liberates you. You are left feeling fresh and more in tune with your psychic home.

There are myriad reasons to release items that have no more use in your life, possessions that others can use, objects that just take up space. The most important is you must own your personal style and relinquish anything that doesn’t represent YOU. We want to see people expressing themselves fully...

An empty shelf, a bare wall, a pared down interior feels good! A refreshing breeze rushes into your soul, bringing with it a brand new energy. You become lighter. For those of us who favor minimalism, empty space is essential. For others, letting go is a good exercise. You can always fill in an empty space but it is a fact that everyone owns too much stuff. Who needs dozens of black pants, ten computer plugs, 50,000 jars of cosmetics, 150 cowboy boots?

Unless you are a collector — that’s a different story entirely, a discussion for another day. (Stay tuned for our next post if you are into collecting wine!) Collections are interesting, meaningful, even educational. They bring us beauty and infinite rewards.

Hoarding, however, does not. Even if you are not a hoarder, hanging on to things takes energy. It drains you of your power to access your innermost self. Keeping stuff just in case you may need it one day has no meaning for today. Take the plunge and purge.