NiceMemes

I often think about Mark Hamill when he's chastised by interviewers for giving his vintage first edition Star Wars figures to his children: "They're toys, they're meant to be played with!"

Preach.

My girlfriend does this (or at least used to do this) all the time.

• When she was young, she was gifted a bunch of hand-embroidered clothes of the very traditional 'old country' style. At the time, she literally thought she wasn't good enough to wear them (she's a bit of a tomboy) and saved them away for later. By the time she finally found them again, safely packed away decades later, her style had evolved and she didn't even like that old-fashioned stuff anymore, and she had to just get rid of it because she knew she'd never even want to wear it.

• Some time ago when she was poor and MP3 players were fairly expensive, she'd been using a really old gnarly and busted one every day. For her birthday, her brother got her a fancy new one with a lot more storage and a screen, really the latest and greatest. But she was afraid of losing it or breaking it, so she never took it anywhere and never used it. She kept using the old one. The new one sat on a shelf, safe in its original factory box for years and years. Nowadays, it's completely obsolete and pointless because she can just play music from her phone. She never even loaded any music on it.

Sometimes (even often, maybe?) saving nice things for later just ends in the tragedy of those nice things never being enjoyed at all. She would have been better off if she wore and ultimately wore out and ruined those fancy clothes. She would have been better off if she'd used the fancy MP3 player for a while and it did get lost or broken. Sometimes, keeping precious things safe is the worst thing that can happen to those things. It's like not having them at all -- worse than not having them at all, because now you also need to dedicate storage space to them.

Sucks about getting old and dying. All the things you found interesting and brought you joy are often meaningless to your kids or the next generation. I don’t mean hoarding stupid “collectibles”, but things like maybe the photography you got good at, the nice piece of local art you picked up while traveling, etc.

Took me a while but I got there. I have fabric that my great-grandmother grew as flax, spun, dyed and wove on her loom, over 100 years old now. I'm using these pieces as wall hangings and sofa covers and even on my market stall - it's a simple and pragmatic ancestor practice and in a sense I uncurse her life by carrying these pieces as I walk through my life way more undisturbed, unafraid and freely than she could.

Maybe Check the China before you use it, my wife inherited China from her parents. It's extremely high lead content means it gets displayed, not used.

While I completely agree with this sentiment. On the flipside, I've seen it in people who grew up poor that they really want to save things and preserve them for longer use even if it causes temporary inconvenience. I think it might be hard to get out of this mindset

My ex had brought me whiskey coffee from her trip to Scotland. I decided to save it for a special occasion, and then it expired and I had to throw it. Never again.

Is coffee from Texas somehow special? Or just part of the joking...

Coffee from Texas is... special?

Reminds me Uncle Iroh. "Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life's true delights."

I have a shitload of stickers that I need to finally stick somewhere.

I never drank the sake I was given for my 30th because I was saving it for a special day. We sure as shit drank all the champagne my missus got for graduating.

This holds true in the kitchen too. Don't let your good olive oil go rancid while you wait for the right time to use it

I disagree. Good things become dull things if you have them constantly.

That's great wisdom. We shouldn't keep stuff in a jar out of respect, or out of some fear that the memory it carries dissipates. Everything decays. Using that stuff is the best mark of respect and remembrance you can pay to whomever left you it. I'm writing this message to myself

Fun fact: there's marginalia collectors, people who collect pieces of media which contain handwritten scribbles and notes on them

What’s does living in the water and on land have to do with how you feel about your possessions?

Use it or lose it.

Even though it’s certainly good to treat yourself and get the most out of life, these kinds of catchphrases are dangerous. Unrestrained hedonism is selfish and short-sighted; it is what has brought humanity to the situation it finds itself in today—on the brink of the abyss.

If we continue as we have been, we will destroy the very foundations of our existence—and, with them, ourselves.

"After me, the deluge" is not an attitude worth aspiring to.