50 Things That Look Just Like Your Childhood

I’m completely, utterly and totally addicted to Buzzfeed which, along with Upworthy, make up my bedtime reading in the half an hour before I actually fall asleep. I like the fact both websites feature feel-good, positive news because it makes a very nice change from the doom and gloom that appears on other websites…it helps me to keep my faith in humanity! 😉

This is one of the articles that recently caught my attention. I’d reproduce the whole post here but I’d have to save 50 pictures and that just isn’t going to happen! Except for #35, #36, #40 and #46, everything else brought back such strong memories of my childhood and made me contemplate about what is important to me.

It’s funny how much certain things mean to you when you’re a child but lose all significance as you get older. As a child, you can spend entire days with your attention completely focused on that one toy and so vehemently defend it because it’s yours and only yours, and it’s the bestest toy in the world and nobody else can have it.

One of the best toys of all time. Fact.

As you get older, not only does that precious item lose meaning to you but it’s like it was never a part of your life. Because how many of us remember this toy? Now that I see the photo, I remember how precious it was to me. I remember how much I admired that she could stand en pointe, how I loved what long legs she has and how I found her hair and her colours oh-so pretty. I loved the whirring noise that the base made when you launched her, and how gracefully she appeared to spin in the air. But before I saw this article, if you had asked me what toys caught my attention as a child, I would’ve never remembered this one without prompting.

Super classy!

Or these amazing melamine plates. Wow. I’d completely forgotten about them. For whatever reasons, I loved these plates and I didn’t want to use them because I didn’t want to ruin them…and now, I don’t remember what happened to them. Why was I such a hoarder when it came to these plates? Why didn’t I want to use them? What was I saving them for? I really don’t remember but what I do remember is never using them…and never seeing them again. Were they sold? Were they left behind when we moved house? Was something secretly using them (then chucking them when they broke)? I’ll never know.

So. Stuff that’s important to you. I think the lesson here is that we shouldn’t get so prissy over our belongings because what matters to us now, won’t matter to us a few years down the line. That’s why Buddha taught that attachment has no purpose. When you’re attached to something and you can’t let it go, it leads to all kinds of emotions – defensiveness, frustration, jealousy, envy – that only create harm. Sometimes these emotions lead you to value things over people. And over what? A possession that you will completely forget a few years later? Something that you will have to leave behind at the time of death?

Attachment. Don’t let it make your life a misery.

Reflections and Teachings