Ariel sang for many of us when she showed off her collection of sparkling treasures, AKA her gadgets and gizmos a-plenty. While my own collections of pretty things are usually gathered in the form of a Pinterest board, I share her passion for holding onto trinkets (or digital photos taken by strangers) that spark my interest enough to make them worthy of saving. While Pinterest probably has a better sense of myself than I do, other collections of mine piece together my own personal aesthetic. From Spotify playlists to shoeboxes of old cards and letters, my collections make up what I love and who I am.
why do we collect?
Although the word “collection” might bring to mind images of hoarders seeking obscure objects or niche professionals on Antiques Roadshow, this habit really isn’t so extreme. Almost half of Americans collect actual objects, and I’d argue that the majority diligently create digital collections.
From a psychologist’s perspective, examining new items activates specific parts of our brains which spark pleasure. Thinking in terms of evolution, it’s important to continue searching for unfamiliar things in order to figure out which are helpful to us. In terms of more modern collections like the digital ones, I’d like to propose that they help us cultivate a sense of personal identity. By collecting meaningful physical objects, making lists of favorite songs, or pinning photos to a style board, we organize what we like into viewable or tangible representations of our own individual tastes.
It could be antique coins or snapshots for your June 2025 vision board– whatever the collection, it’s a representation of you!
digital collections
In the digital world we’ve grown up in, it’s no wonder that collections look different than a jar full of mismatched buttons or a piggy bank of foreign currency. Most of us probably have the largest collections of all on Spotify.
Music is probably the most salient way to capture a memory or emotion, and creating playlists emulating that is the perfect memorabilia of an era in your life or a particular mood. My perfect system is a quarterly spam playlist compiled of songs from every genre under the sun, plus the standard vibe-oriented playlists I’ll tap into yearlong.
Another all too common digital collection is those TikToks you saved for later but probably will never look back at. Or, maybe you’re like me and waste your time on Instagram reels instead. Personally, I find clicking the like button on relatable reels to be far too public, and use the save button as liberally as some do that little white heart (digital footprint much?). It is fun to almost reminisce on the state of mind I was in over time by rewatching those I’ve saved (but also an indicator that I need to lower my screen time).
Even photos can compile into collections. Food pictures, coffee flicks, and other random moments I feel the need to commemorate accumulate in my camera roll. I’m a huge fan of listening to music and scrolling through old pictures, and this kind of collection is a simple way of saving mundane memories from being forgotten.
lists upon lists
I recently reached the milestone of 1,000 notes on my Notes App. Whether this is a signal for celebration or cause for concern, my mania for list-making has (clearly) only grown over the years. Evidently, I don’t delete old lists or pages of thoughts, so you could even say I collect the lists themselves!
Each one on its own, though, details facts about me that for whatever reason I need to articulate in writing rather than remember about myself. From (girl) baby names to my favorite fruits, these mini collections living in my phone are just more ways of creating a permanent record of who I am, piecing together my identity from my tastes in very specific categories of things.
clutter (i mean tangible collections)
Last, we have the kind of collection that crowds my bedroom at home and makes me dread moving out of my current apartment: the physical ones. Most of us are collectors, and in my opinion, those who aren’t must be cold-hearted and unsentimental because really, how could you throw away birthday cards or not bring all your favorite books with you to college?
While I wouldn’t call the large number of dishes that stock my kitchen a collection by any means, it doesn’t have to be anything extreme to earn the name. As long as it’s something that you find meaning in and worth holding onto, representing a small part of who you are. Vinyls, mugs, seashells, and so much more are all, like the digital collections, an attempt to capture sentiments to treasure for years to come!