Museums reflect the compulsive hoarder that's inside all of us. We tend to keep things, even if they have no use for us anymore - over/undersized clothes, books, dvds, old newspapers, etc. We buy things that do nothing but collect dust, like ceramic souvenirs. And we take thousands of photos even if no one (including ourselves) would be interested to see them again anyway.
There are huge differences however, between our collection of useless stuff and museums. Firstly, museums employ curators to look after their collections. Also, thousands of people flock museums everyday. In contrast, our private collections get much less attention. They usually do nothing but lie around just taking up space in our room.
Why do we value things that can be of no practical use for us anymore that we keep them? That's because we value our history, and our hoarded items are pieces of that memorable past. Those clothes remind us that we were once skinny or thick. Our books and dvds tell us that we have read and seen quite a lot of interesting things. Old newspapers and photos are the ones that really capture our history, either by journalists or our camera.
Maybe it's time to let go - donate, recycle or throw away - our collection of unnecessary stuff.
As much as they can remind us of our past, keeping too many of them for too long would only clutter our present.
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