The Beauty of "Used"

Unfortunately at times "used" has the tendency to equate with "bad" in the minds of some individuals. However I like to think of most used items as "look how much life is left in it for me!" Each item also tends to have its own story. I have had countless used items in my lifetime that have actually given me more joy than many of the newly bought items that I have purchased.

Many of my current used possessions are some that will always have the most meaning for me. My love seat, while I hope to recover it, has large amounts of meaning for me. It's clean lines and larger shape evoke a modernism that was ahead of its time. It also came from my grandparents house and thus will always represent to me large family gatherings and the strength and durability of my grandparents love and lives. Yet while symbolic to me, the love seat desires to be functionally used. (All items should be meaningful AND functional-I'm not one for lots of things just sitting around!)

I also have a gorgeous necklace that came from my great-grandmother, passed down to me by my mother on my 21st birthday. It's antique style has also had a rebirth in today's fashion accesory industry. The necklace had an accident at some point in its history and so one part is attached by very heavy string that has held out through the generations. While I treat it delicately and tend to wear it for special occassions, it still remains functional and beautiful all at once. And in it's non-perfect state it holds even more meaning especially thru the contrast of its strength and delicacy.

However the older I get the more glad I am for the "hand-me-downs" that I receive. As the youngest in my family with three older siblings, I have been privy at times to some wonderful items that my older siblings had replaced or maybe just felt like sharing. When I had my first apartment, my sister gave me some of her bakeware and other storable items. When my oldest brother passed one of his cameras onto our other brother, I then received the basic digital camera that had belonged to my second oldest brother and that continues to be my camera today. From that same brother, I have been the recepient of a past cell phone and of a wonderful bike! My first car had also been past down through my sister, to my mother, and on to me. While many of these used items are not always in perfect condition, they are still completely functional and have many years left of use. Thus being the youngest at times has its benefits!

Generally though it just makes me happy to see all of these used items continue to have life and to be of service until no more life is present in them. I like to imagine that some day we will be able to break down the individual pieces of items such as a love seat or an old camera, in order to use the parts to create our new items. However even if that point never arrives, I will continue to gladly accept the items that still have use for me and to donate or give to others items that I no longer use but will still be beneficial for another. May the hand-me-downs continue, the landfills be saved, and for all of us to appreciate the history and symbolism that our used items present for us!