Sunday, September 1, 2013

GETTING RID OF STUFF



Today I threw in the trash the first map I used in the States, back in 2002: a street map of San Francisco. As I was going over stuff and choosing what I was taking to Brazil with me and what should be thrown away, this map made me think if I made a mistake or not.

Should we keep things that have little significance and at first sight are not important? Will I regret my decision to throw this map away? Will this map have any value many years from now? What if my grandparents had thrown their postcards and other documents away when moving from Europe to Brazil? What would my odds be of ever getting a glimpse of how they were like?

But in today's age, everything is digital and we have the Internet. Things cannot be lost anymore. Maybe anybody could easily rescue this same map years from now. Or not?

I'm not sure. But what I know is that those who have ephemera from ages past, please don't throw them away. They belong to generations that will never exist again.

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