The Art of Letting Go (Part 2)

More than a decade ago, I began an agonizing journey of quitting my collection. Back then it was quite difficult because I was still at the height of my otaku-ness and I've really grown attached to my collection and it felt like I wasn't done but I felt compelled to stop because of the negative events occurring in my personal life then and it felt like I was being punished for my avarice. So I made a forced decision to quit collecting stuff and I started with a pledge to stop buying toys. I actually did well because I really stopped. But not completely. After a while, I cheated by convincing myself that a music box is not a toy but a musical instrument. Then there were other collectible stuff that I categorized differently to justify my decision to buy them. So the collecting continued albeit at a much slower pace.

The thing about material stuff is that any amount of happiness generated during its acquisition dissipates immediately. The sad thing is, the negative effects brought about for producing material goods are experienced by so many people and species, and will be experienced for many more years to come. This is the part that I didn't understand then. For a long time, I was under the thought that I should be able to buy whatever I want now that I earn more than what I need. I should be able to reward myself with goods I never get to experience growing up. I believed in the power of retail therapy and for a long time, it was a big motivation to work harder. But when I significantly slowed down the collecting habit, I started to realize that it didn't really take anything from enjoying life. Then I saw the documentary The Story of Stuff, I began to understand how my material consumption behavior goes directly against my environmental advocacies. Suddenly I no longer felt the desire to own any anime and manga related merchandise. Even music boxes. And just like that, I quit for good. 

So what happened to all those stuff I've accumulated over the years? I started selling them on Ebay, Carousell, and Facebook Marketplace. I can't really tell just how much and how many I've sold over the years, but it's a lot.

Shirahime Sho manga by CLAMP

Some items I profited because of their rarity, but most I had to sell half the price I got them. Despite the seemingly losing terms, I found the process of selling pre-loved items as immensely rewarding. I learned how therapeutic it was to send the items I loved so much to other collectors who are excited to finally own the merch from their checklist. Not all of my buyers are collectors, some are buying the stuff as a gift. One time I even got a request from a buyer to write a note for a music box set she bought. She was giving it as a good luck gift for board exams. The ones that really made me happy are those who were kind enough to thank me and express their  overjoy for finally receiving my stuff.

  This Vocaloid Music Box Set was bought to inspire a Physician Licensure examinee

While I've sold a lot, there's still so much stuff in my room that I have to get rid of through selling. I would very much like to embrace the concept of living with less. But I  can't just give them away, why? Because I'm not rich, I still need to recover at least a portion of what I spent. Also, there's a better chance that the next owners of my pre-loved items will be properly taken care because they have to invest somehow. Then there are still stuff that I still find hard to let go because there's just too much history attached to them but it has always been part of my hopes and prayers that I continue to grow spiritually, and part of the growth is a complete realization that any attachment to the material world is irrelevant in attaining genuine happiness and life satisfaction.