I went to an antique appraisal event over the weekend. The fees went to charity, so I figured it would be a fun way to find out some more information about some family “heirlooms.” During the rather long wait, people were talking to each other and sharing information about their treasures. It got me thinking about what we keep and why.
I try to abide by the William Morris quote to “have nothing in your homes that you do not know to be useful and believe to be beautiful,” but there were some people there who had been holding on to things that they did not find beautiful at all, but kept because someone had told them they were worth something. Most of them left feeling free to finally throw out the piece of junk that they never liked anyway.
There was another person who had a lovely item that he’d kept in a box in his basement for decades. He said that before he had it, his parents had kept it in a box in their basement. It turned out to be worth over $10,000.00. As he left, he said he was going to keep it in the box in his basement to preserve it. It seemed strange to me to keep such a lovely thing under wraps. Why not sell it and put the $10,000.00 in a box in your basement? Or display it and get enjoyment out of it. And, of course, my estate planning brain kicked in and I wondered if he would re-do his will to include this item.
Many people, like me, found out that they did not have any hidden treasures in their homes, but would continue to display and treasure their items because they found them beautiful and derived pleasure from their existence. That’s when things are truly priceless.
What are you holding on to because you think maybe it’s worth something? If you found out that an item you didn’t like was worth money, would you feel differently about it? If you found out that an item was worth a significant amount of money, would you reconsider how you would pass it down?
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