As long as people have been around, they have collected things. Years ago, they would only purchased food and other necessities needed for survival. Now, people collect whatever items seem to give them pleasure or joy such as sewing machines or train horns or what items they believe will earn them a profit in the future like expensive pieces of art. Being a collector of something is a small hobby to some or an all encompassing career to others. There are all different types and levels of collectors. in rare cases collectors become obsessed with collecting and this becomes an illness of a hoarder.

There are many ways to be a collector and some people begin when they are just small children. If you inquire with any man in his 40’s or 50’s if he collected baseball cards as a boy, a big percentage will probably say yes. It is quite common for children to get involved in a phase or something that is fun or popular at the moment and this turns into collecting. Another example of kids collecting the latest phase or toys are the beanie babies or the Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh trading cards. These were the things for kids to have at one point and many kids became collectors of them until the faze disappeared.

Because so many children get interested in having a little collection of something at a certain point, this creates an activity for others to do as adults. For most of those kids, their collections fade away as they grow and mature but for others, collecting becomes something they have to become a part of. People usually collect items that they are interested in, whether it is sports memorabilia of their favorite team or pieces of art by a particular artist.

What bagan as a hobby for a lot of people, can also become a lucrative profession as well. The people that are very passionate about collecting things, do everything they can to learn about that particular item. This can be a valuable resource for companies that handle collectibles by hiring a person that is so well education on a particular thing. This can result on being hired by a large auction company such as Sotheby’s or by starting their own business buying and selling certain collectibles or antiques, for example.

For some people, collecting and gathering items become a mental illness known as hoarding. People that hoard need to constantly attain things whether it is by shopping or even sorting through others trash. It can be clothing or it can even be food but the main issue of a hoarder is that they never get rid of anything and find an emotional attachment to all of the things that they bring into their home. Eventually the residence is filled from floor to ceiling with stuff that becomes a health hazard. A mental health professional is the only person who can help a hoarder to reclaim a normal life again where they will not fill an emotional void in their life with stuff.