Attachment to “Stuff”

I must make a confession: I enjoy watching American Pickers on the History Channel. The adventures of Mike Wolf and Frank Fritz have captured my attention numerous times in the past three or four years. Even though I turn away from most “reality shows,” and even though I know some of the show’s elements are set-up, I am drawn in by the pursuit of historical things and the bargains Mike and Frank find. Week after week, they encounter people who are in possession of “stuff” they have collected for years. The meeting with the “pickers” may come by apparent chance, by solicitation, or by a call going out following the death of loved one. The latter circumstance being the result of a decision to mark the passing of a time of life, as well as the person who was part of the time of life. In a recent commercial for…