Binders holding pages of clear card-holders. Shelves lined with figurines and keychains. A board full of magnets from every country. While it may seem like a mundane task to outsiders, starting a collection is a pastime that can bring happiness, build organization skills, and reduce stress. As a bonus, collectors get a slew of items to spend time with on their desks or in their drawers.

Collecting has a long and rich history over the years. Previous examples of popular collections included cabinets of curiosities, which were full of unusual items amassed by people in Renaissance Europe, or art patrons and collectors who paid artists to create paintings that have been kept and preserved for years. The activity has also existed as a hobby through generations, with collections passed on to children and grandchildren.

As a diverse, long-term hobby, collecting can be as flexible as necessary to fit into a busy schedule, different from other pastimes that may require more time in a shorter frame to appreciate.
The hobby also has many benefits to one’s well-being and happiness. Starting a collection can help fuel curiosity and creativity, as looking forward to finding or obtaining new things can enhance the opportunities to think further than before. A collection of items can also contribute to stress reduction and bring joy through the process of finding objects or looking at them, which often have aesthetic value to the collector. In addition, psychologist Carl Jung speculated that collecting originated from the ancient times of gathering and hunting, where keeping things would be beneficial to survival.

As such a widespread passion shared by many, collecting has garnered its own communities for its respective objects. For example, stamp collecting, known as philately, has a plethora of ways to engage with other collectors, showcase collections, or trade stamps online and offline. Having a collection of shared interests with someone else can open the door for potential new friendships and interactions, as a collection can often be a sign of how passionate someone is about a subject.

The benefits are far greater than collecting is given credit for, from the sense of community that the activity can bring to the enhancement of one’s mental health and happiness. Starting a collection is a fun hobby that can bring friends, both animate and inanimate, to one’s life.