Wie geht's?
Mary Jo Putney's quote came to mind as I watched a documentary on NZ musician Martin Phillipps recently. It's called The Chills; The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps. Martin passed away a few months ago.
He is seen in the documentary trying to sort out his toy collection. It's vast and, at the time, he didn't want that burden to fall to his relatives after he passed away. It's pretty sad - not that he collected the toys, that he knew he didn't have long, so he felt that compulsion to provide order to his collection.
He looks and sounds very childlike as he's engaged in this deeply personal exercise. I really felt for him. It was heart-breaking because he was emptying the deeply precious items from his life, but he was also being pragmatic.
Like everyone, I have a number of books and items from my childhood that I keep. I even have things from my mother's childhood. I couldn't bear to part with any of them. However, they are things that would not have much significance to anyone else. As Martin knew - someone else would look at his collection and dismiss them, but to him they had real significance.
So, while we are here, they remain as an important tangible connection to our past.
I wonder where Martin's toy collection is now.
Love and peace - Wozza
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