Do you suffer from disposophobia – maybe just a little bit?  One definition by some apparent experts in 1996 (Frost and Hartl) summarized it as “the acquisition of and failure to discard a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value”.  And even if the items you collect are not useless, sometimes the sheer volume of the possessions devalues them or renders them largely useless: for example, remember Imelda Marcos?  She was reputed to have 3000 pairs of shoes – more than any normal person could reasonably use in a lifetime – and then some!

Even if you don’t suffer from the problem, it’s likely that you remember collecting things as a child, whether it was comic books, dolls, diecast toys or pop star photos.  So maybe we’re all genetically programmed to collect stuff anyhow.

But instead of trying to fight the inevitable urges, how about channeling your tendencies (or those of your significant other) into something that meets the need to collect things as well as providing useful and beautiful artifacts?  That’s a long winded way of saying: have you thought about collecting heart jewelry?  The benefits are many because heart jewelry is so widespread in terms of the occasions on which you can wear it and so accommodating as far as matching it with a wide variety of outfits and other jewelry.  Need some more convincing?  Well, how about:

• A silver heart locket for the wearer to include a picture of her loved one?

• Delicate heart shaped earrings that are just as appropriate for that night out at the local family restaurant as they are for the formal and upscale dinner engagement?

• A gold heart necklace that complements the earrings and provides a picture of elegance?

• A heart ring that symbolizes the love of one partner for another?

• A heart charm bracelet that can be worn for leisure and business events and can be added to year by year (note: yet more collecting!)?

All of these can be mixed and matched to give a variety of “looks” and to enhance any social occasion.  So do yourself a favor – if you do want to tame your disposophobia tendencies, opt for heart jewelry and give your fashion assets a boost too!