Stuff

By stuff I mean, the things that clutter up my life. And my home. And car.
I can understand the need to have aesthetically pleasing surroundings: even holy texts say that having beautiful surroundings is restful and beneficial to the soul. My decorating tastes are pretty simple. I like an item or a somehow matched set of items to stand out and not be part of a clutter. I like plants. I like simple wood. That's whats restful and beneficial to me. And that's not what I wonder about.
What I wonder about is...
Why do I have a drawer and a chest full of craft and office supplies, for just one person?
Why do I have three pictures of Abdu'l-Baha up in a two room apartment?
Why are there so many books that literally every flat surface including the dining table has been forced into service as a bookshelf? I know, this one is highly charged for book lovers. Bit I myself AM a book lover... and still most of these books I will probably only read a few times and could get from any library. Why keep them dusty in my space?
Why do I have boxes full of mementos? Just to serve as reminders? In the end, what does if matter if I remember the specific stuffed lamb I had as a baby and young child? Its not as if I will forget childhood. Why do I keep the last birthday card my father sent me, until the next one arrives? Its not as if I will forget he loves me, or that I was born. This is the category of stuff that I wonder most about, and that is most cluttery. Most of it is not beautiful in a way that should be displayed or is restful to the eye and the spirit. And yet I hang onto it with a ferocity that surprises me and even frightens me at times. If something were to happen to Kahlil's baby blanket I would be devasted... but why? No matter what material items I possess, he will still be a part of me where ever and when ever I am.
So why, why this need to possess materially when I am already and eternally spiritually connected to everything I have ever loved?