According the the article, “An introduction to material culture,” collecting objects is something humans have done since the beginning of our origins. These objects included things with practical uses such as tools for building and materials for maintaining life. Others were objects of sentimental value that humans keep for the sake of holding onto memories and fulfilling aesthetic needs. Personally speaking, most of the objects I refuse to let go of are those that symbolize some sort of personal significance to me.

With that being said, I like to think of myself as a relatively neat person. I find comfort in organization, and when my room is messy for more than a day and a half, I refuse to fall asleep at night without creating some sort of semblance that I have my life together. For this assignment, I chose to tidy up my desk drawer. Cleaning, rearranging, and organizing have always been exciting for me, due to the fact that it makes me feel revitalized. I find that clutter throws me off and does not allow me to function in my room to my full capacity. However, by choosing to tackle the mess that is my desk drawer, I now feel like I can be productive at my desk, knowing it is tidy and that everything on and inside of it are easily accessible.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of what my drawer looked like prior to this organization process, but I can assure you it was quite messy. Some of the objects I found were ones I had not seen for awhile; others I did not recall putting in there at all.

The first object I found was this photo album. Given to me as a gift, containing photographs of memories with my friends, I had forgotten that I had stowed it away into my desk drawer. Finding it during this assignment was exciting, and made me happy, for I was able to reminisce as I flipped through the pages of it.

Another object I came across during this process was my old writing journal.

It has been months since I’ve opened this book, and even longer since I’ve written in it. Coming across it forced me to look inside and read old thoughts, quotes, and entries I had written. I felt both nostalgic, and even a little saddened, to read about my past self. However, it did allow me to reflect on how much I have grown since.

Another object I found, and one I’m slightly embarrassed to post here, is a goofy drawing that one of my friends made.

Of all the objects I found, this one should’ve been one I surely threw away. It is a slightly crumbled piece of composition notebook paper, with a horrific drawing of what my friend states “looks like me.” I have no practical purpose for holding onto this, but at the same time, could not throw it out because it is something that makes me laugh. It holds a strange sentimental value to me, and so it was put right back into my drawer.

Another object I came across, that also should’ve been tossed, was an old penny.

Rather than adding this penny to my coin jar, to eventually be cashed into the bank, I keep it in my desk drawer for good luck. I’m a bit of a superstitious person, and so I always hold on to objects such as pennies I found on heads. I also collect elephant figurines, another example of objects I have that have some sort of sentimental value, because they are believed to bring good luck. Though they hold no real materialistic value to me, I keep them for the memories and for the personal value they possess.

Overall, this experience was an enlightening one. It made me realize two things: one being that I need to go through my drawers more often, due to the fact that they were littered with garbage and scraps of paper; another being that there are objects in there that I had forgot I even had. Each one brought back some sort of memory for me, and so the process made me feel joy. Plus, it helped me get organized and feel like I have my life in order.