Author Archives: Kaiya Colby

Hoarding and Cleaning – Kaiya

I collect jewelry, I have about 65 bracelets and necklaces, 30 rings, 20 pairs of earrings, and about 35 nose studs/rings. I make jewelry and in my family, there has been a tradition of passing on jewelry, and for many years I have acquired a growing selection of jewelry. I see this as a way for me to connect with my spirituality while also bringing personal enjoyment. I adorn myself with jewelry because I think that it is a beautiful form of expression. Over time I have also gotten more piercings that have allowed for different sub-sections of my collection. I have significantly downsized my jewelry since moving out, but there is still a large amount of pieces that I currently have in my space. I think that someone could definitely make the argument that this is a form of hoarding, seeing that it takes up a large amount of space and that I have a personal connection with almost all of my pieces. It was very hard for me to leave some of my jewelry behind and I also have lots of tools to make more pieces. My collection does not usually affect my cleaning routines, but it is very easy to make a mess with jewelry; I find myself leaving jewelry on different surfaces and forgetting about it until I need to use the surface. Despite these worries, I will continue my collection because it is something that is important in my life and gives me personal satisfaction.

 

Matter Out of Place – Kaiya

Resting on my desk is a damp paper towel, used to wipe the surface of the desk. The towel is still white in color, and not showing any signs of stains. Despite its clean appearance, the towel is deemed waste. This is based on the fact that the towel has served its single purpose. This mindset around waste is shown in the article. The idea of use and purity is something that is brought up in Mary Douglas’ definition of dirt, she also goes on to describe what we think of as ‘dirty’. Douglas explains that the way we think of dirt is based on classification and cultural aspects, she also talks about the context in which we think of waste and how it changes with the context of the object. The paper towel is a cleaning tool, something pure, it now holds the dirt that was once on my desk. The classification for the paper towel is now broken and it is therefore waste. The context of the paper towel is also taken into account when asking if it is dirty because it was sitting on my desk. If the paper towel was instead in the bathroom or on a counter would it still be waste? In what context would it not be perceived as waste?