Why Your Keepsakes Matter: Embracing Sentimentality
I don’t have the kind of collection most people would consider worthy of sharing. It’s not the kind that sits behind glass or sparkles on the shelf. Though those are lovely and enticing, for me, I’m talking about the quiet, messy kind.
The shoebox full of old concert wristbands. The photo album with corners peeling. The envelope stuffed with handwritten letters that smell faintly like old paper and warm nostalgia. I collect memories—in all their tangible, timeworn forms.
Old programs, newspaper clippings, faded polaroids, birthday cards with cursive writing, ticket stubs from movies and concerts I barely remember until I see the date and smile. They’re not worth anything to anyone else, but they mean everything to me. They are reminders—proof, in a way, that I’ve lived. I was there. I had a good time once.
I’ve always been sentimental. I can’t help it. My memory lives in physical things, in objects that anchor me to a time or feeling I don’t want to lose. Each item I’ve saved holds a little whisper of a moment I’m afraid to forget. It’s why I have over 10 shoeboxes filled with souvenirs from life.
It’s one of the reasons why I made photo albums and scrapbooks documenting the adventures I’ve shared with people I love. Some people are still here, and some have gone. There’s a deep comfort in knowing those fragments of joy are still with me, even if the people or places aren’t.
Yes, I’m a bit of a pack rat. And yes, I’ve been told I need to “declutter.” And I do try. Every once in a while, I go through my boxes and gently part with a thing or two. But there’s something deeply personal about it all—something sacred, really. These things are mine. And that makes them special. Some might see clutter. I see a life lived deeply.
If you’ve ever felt guilty about holding on to too many keepsakes, let this be your permission to hold space for the sentimental. To honor the stories behind the scraps. Because sometimes, the smallest, simplest things carry the greatest meaning.
“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”
A.A. Milne
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2 Comments
MazCat
Yes I loved reading about your keepsakes and in today’s throw away society memories and and memorable objects are the sweetest things.
Goals and Good Vibes
I love this! I love sentimental stuff 💜