A show of hands please, for those of you who felt more than a little angst during this recent election season. My arm is up, my hand is waving obnoxiously, and my butt is partway off my chair, reminiscent of an overly eager grade school student hoping the teacher picks her in class. I really am honestly grateful that we have the privilege and freedom of a democratic election, but I am also relieved that for the next few years, I do not need to listen to the over $10 billion paid political advertisements where people incessantly say hateful things, true or false, about their opponent. But no matter where you place yourself on the blue and red technicolor political spectrum, whether you loved your candidate with all your heart and soul, or whether you struggled with not having a candidate who embodied all you hoped for in a president, it is fair to say, this political season caused everyone more than a little emotional discomfort, anxiety, and gnawing heartburn.
The week before election day, I often found myself opening two, gray shagreen boxes in our living room that hold my cherished seashell collection. This is not your run of the mill “random seashells I picked up on the beach” seashell collection (but those are awesome too and how mine got started and continues to grow). My parents fueled my love of seashells with the souvenir purchase of one exotic shell per trip when we would travel on a family vacation, and this collection has been curated over decades. So, here we are the week before the election, and I found myself opening the seashell boxes not once per day, or twice, but sometimes up to three times during a single day. I would pick up individual seashells—feeling their smooth or rough surfaces, closely examining their fascinating color and pattern details, putting some up to my ear to listen for the ocean, and, just taking a few minutes to marvel at them. Pure beauty and unmatched architecture. And then I remember thinking to myself “Cyndy, seashells? Three times in one day? What the $%&?”
Humans love collecting things. It is in our nomadic hunter-gatherer DNA. We love the hunt, and we love the joy we find in the process of collecting (the store Marshall’s has based its entire marketing campaign on this very notion!). Growing up in rural New Jersey, my collecting started with flowers and butterflies, which I would press or mount. The nature collection expanded with other organic treasures like an abandoned turtle shell, acorns, bird feathers, fossils, and interesting rocks and minerals. And with every new discovery, a collection would begin (my parents were thrilled with all the crap I brought home!). As I matured, my collecting turned to baseball cards after I had inherited someone else’s collection (and boy do I regret selling it at our garage sale not realizing its value!), postage stamps (now two generations worth), glass marbles, and China animals (all of my saved allowance was spent at Wisteria House of Gifts in Mendham, NJ), to name a few. And a shout out to all you 1980’s middle school-aged girls who also collected stuffed satin stars and moons that had iridescent streamers. I remember thumbtacking them all to my ceiling one Saturday morning, making my bedroom into a celestial fairyland, much to my parents’ dissatisfaction.
Lest we think collecting is reserved only for those who have resources, time, and privilege, I loved learning that my husband who was a young child in war torn Beirut, Lebanon, would wait for shooting to stop before he and his friends would rush outside to collect spent bullet shells and shrapnel within and around their neighborhood. We collect what we have. Thanks to a change in circumstances (i.e., escaping war) my husband now collects Porsche Hot Wheels cars, something he has loved since he was a child, and the excitement he feels in the hunt and finding that rare model and color car is unmatched. His collection brings him immense joy, and we will soon need to increase our real estate to accommodate his growing mini automotive gallery. I am thinking our wedding vows, in addition to “for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health” should have included something about our mutual personal collections.
As I reflect on my frequent visits to the seashell boxes the week before the election, I understand more fully how and why collections and the process of collecting lower our blood pressure and bring us joy and peace. While I may have felt like things in my universe were out of my control (i.e., grand scale politics), I was still in control of something. Collections and collecting are beautiful distractions that let us escape and focus on items we find interesting, cool, fascinating, or beautiful and we control that narrative. This is not a “burying your head in the sand” mentality, but simply, a chance to catch your breath, and realize that amidst chaos, trauma, or frustration, there is still joy, beauty, peace, and control.
So, if you have a passion for politics and have loved every second of this presidential election season, redirect your disappointment that it’s over and find joy in collecting campaign buttons and bumper stickers and all the fun memorabilia and propaganda that are part of our first-world democratic process. Need to unwind a little after this election season? Turn off the news for a day, get off social media, and go collect something! As an adult, return to that childhood fascination in finding treasures when you walk, and pick up the prettiest leaves that have fallen off the trees, the random bird feather, discarded walnut shell, or perfectly polished rock. Or revisit one of your collections that is maybe stashed at the back of a bedroom closet or stuck up in the attic- the matchbook, stamp, shot glass, doll, or mini-spoon collection—break it open and reintroduce yourself to the items you at one point found insanely fascinating or remind you of places you have been. Or focus on something new that you find fun and are passionate about and collect the hell out of it! Get ready, get set, and go because you’ve only got four more years to curate your collection, so you are ready for the next presidential election!
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