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| Trinkets, teacups, and forgotten treasures — the simple things we cherish most after someone is gone. |
Holding On To More Than Just Stuff
We’ve all seen it happen — maybe in a movie, maybe at an estate sale, maybe in our own family. Someone passes away, and suddenly their things are… fascinating. Every day of going through their belongings is a treasure hunt for the clues to their life.
Not just valuable. Not just collectible. Loved. Wanted. Fought over.
Why do we get so attached to the belongings of the dead? I think mostly we do not want the memory of the deceased to die with them.
We adjust to the absence of the deceased, but we never really get over their passing. Life carries on with or without any of us.
🧠 The Psychology of It
Part of it is simple psychology. Stuff carries stories, perhaps the story of the deceased's life? A worn-out armchair, a cracked teacup, a faded photograph—all hold memories and energy, even if they aren’t ours.
Strangely, we inherit a person's presence by keeping their things. It’s easier to hold a sweater than to carry grief. A vintage watch can’t hug us, but it might have.
🛍️ The Allure of the Attic
There’s also a romanticism to it—the idea that in someone else’s stuff, there’s mystery, magic, and meaning. We'll never know if the things they once possessed were cherished or meant something to the deceased. But we do know how much their belongings mean to us in sentimental value. The deceased are no longer with us, but we have their belongings to give us comfort that once upon a time, they did exist. Their belongings are all that is left of the deceased.
As we sift through their things, we are going through their life. Their belongings are like a map to the life they lived.
Why do people love the smell of an old book? The clink of inherited dishes? The writing in the margin of a stranger’s diary? These things are from the unseen that can be felt. Even though they are felt without being seen, we know they existed. There is what we see and what we don't see in everything in life.
Because it reminds us that life leaves behind traces, and we are collectors of traces as memorabilia.
😌 Sometimes... It’s Just Greed
Of course, not everyone’s drawn in by the sentimental. Sometimes it’s about money. Sometimes it’s competition. Sometimes it’s ego: “I want to be the one to have it.”
But even that reflects a truth: belongings outlive people, and we struggle to make peace.
🪟 What We’re Really Holding Onto
Maybe we love other people’s stuff because it helps us feel closer to our own meaning or to the deceased.
If someone’s belongings mattered, then maybe our things will too. Perhaps we won’t be forgotten. Maybe, one day, someone will pick up something we left behind… and care about it.
So the next time you find yourself holding someone else’s spoon, sweater, or shoebox full of trinkets, pause. You’re not just holding stuff. You’re holding the story of the deceased's life...
Rhonda
-The Voice Behind The Blogger's Attic
