The upside of breaking things

Years ago I took a ceramics wheel-throwing class and made many pottery bowls in different sizes. I didn’t have space to display all of them and, as you all know, I try to keep things that I use in my home! But I didn’t want to give up my hard work, so I put some of the nicer pots in my kitchen cabinet and stored the rest.

 

I use the pots so much that every once in a while one gets accidentally broken. It is annoying to break a favorite pot, especially when there are pots that are less-favorite that seem to stay whole forever! The bright side of losing a favorite pot, though, is that it makes room to bring out another pot from my collection. When I have guests over for a meal, friends occasionally notice a “new” bowl on table. Because I know that sooner or later I will use them, I am comfortable keeping the rest of my pots in storage.

 

Since I started using my own pottery I’ve developed an eye for beautiful ceramics, and my mother always said that it is good to support a fellow potter. So every once in a while, especially if I recently broke a pot I loved, I will buy a gorgeous new pottery bowl despite the pieces I already have in storage.  Having a flexible “break and replace” policy lets me enjoy all the best parts of having a collection, including the thrill of finding something gorgeous and new, without outgrowing my limited space.

 

One way to tame the instinct to turn beloved items into a collection of clutter is to make them into a “working collection” like my pottery. Do you have similar collections of things that you use as much as you collect?

One thought on “The upside of breaking things

  1. Beautifully written– and a really nice way to think about what we have and what we choose to use, to beautify living space. I enjoy all of your posts because they read more like personal essays..and make me think! 🙂 caryn

Comments are closed.