Shigamitsuku to You Too

A friend of mine posted on Facebook about her book addiction. She buys more than she could possibly read. There is, of course, a term for this. Tsundoku. The article she linked to went on to say that the word in Japan comes from doku, or reading, and tsun, to pile up. A pile up of books. However, Google translate came up with poison for doku and tsun for tsun. Not helpful. The whole word translated to Loading.

Now, I don’t speak Japanese and don’t pretend to understand the nuance of their language, and these might be Google translation errors, but it got me thinking about my own addiction – to glass.

I have two bottles, one a rich cobalt blue that I am incapable of getting rid of. Oh, how I have tried. The color of cobalt blue and the smooth surface of the glass entices me to pull them from whatever donation pile they make their way too. The thought of tossing them in the recycling bin gives me shivers.

Why is this? I’m not a hoarder, and for the most part have no trouble tossing worn items or things I haven’t touched in years into the bin. But these two glass bottles defy me. I have not used them for anything but décor for decades. Literally decades. Yes, I could fall back on Marie Kondo and say they spark joy, but not enough to have them displayed. I don’t fear that the minute they are gone I’ll need them. The color and material just click for me. I have other blue glass and perhaps I don’t agonize over those because they were gifts from special people, and I have no intention of getting rid of them.

Of course, this needs a Japanese name. Using Google translate again, I came up with Shigamitsuku – or holding onto. It works for anything you hold onto.

As I write, the glass bottles have moved into the garage into the “extra jar” storage. We’ll see if I can get rid of them after they’ve aged out there for a summer. Or better yet – anyone want them?