When I began living in Maine, I noticed that the state itself has a very large obsession with Gnomes. I made the mistake of telling my mother I thought that they were cute and suddenly I have a gnome army which makes this collection pale in comparison what gnomes I left at home. Personally, I only wanted to bee and pumpkin ones because I love Halloween and I adore bees. However, these gnomes have grown on me, and I catch myself wondering if I can find others that are just as charming. I used to draw gnomes like this in middle school and high school, so they have a very nostalgic feel for me. Do I need them? No. Do they serve a purpose? Besides the tea and cup in one gnome, no. Well actually the pumpkin one is a candle holder, but I don’t have candles, I just wanted to gnome. They serve no purpose other than having me happy. Thankfully though I can keep them in places that add charm and also, they are easy to clean and move around so they don’t take up much space and it reminds me of home. If anything, the only thing I get scared to clean is the teapot and cup since I have yet to use them because I’m worried, I won’t clean it properly or break it, I have a very bad tendency to not clean fragile things (such as my mother’s fine China) because I am freaked out that if I touch it, I’ll break it. I am slowly getting over my fear, however, just don’t hand things to me because I will get jittery, and I might drop it.
I wonder where the line is between decoration and hoarding. I have a collection of paper shapes/crafts that I have done. They serve no purpose besides being interesting to look at, but as the collection grows, it feels less like decorating and more like holding on to something useless.