Tell us a story: sounds too good to be true

Have you ever bought something that made hard-to-believe promises, and found that it lived up to its hype?

Your belongings (5)

What do your possessions say about you? Which of them say that you are smart and practical? Which say that you are fun and playful? Which say that you have a unique sense of style?

Your belongings (4)

What is something you own that you would have a hard time living without? What did you do before you had it?

Your belongings (3)

Do you hesitate to throw things out? Are there things sitting around your home that you use less than once a month?

Your belongings (2)

If you had to pack up your life and leave in a hurry, grabbing only your most important possessions, what would you need to carry them? A knapsack? A wheelbarrow? A steamer trunk? A minivan? A cruise ship?

Your belongings (1)

What's something you use that was made for you by someone you know?

Tell us a story: lost treasures

Have you ever lost something, driven yourself to distraction looking for it, only to find something else that completely captured your attention instead?

Tell us a story: change of plans

Tell us about a time when you set out shopping with a clear idea of what you wanted to buy, but ended up with something quite different. What did you originally have in mind? What did you end up buying? And what happened that made you change your plans?

An even exchange

Did you ever swap books with a friend, so each of you ended up with a new book to read?  What is something that you traded away for a similar but more useful item? 

This week's theme is trading in.

No one wears these anymore

What was the ill-suited gift that you quickly exchanged for something better?

This week's theme is trading in.

Trading in

When you trade in your car, your new car fits into the same space in your life as your old car — but hopefully in a better way.  Or when you switch from one TV show to another, you're still watching the same amount of television, but hopefully you're better entertained. 

What's something new in your life that takes up the same space as something you got rid of?  What happened that prompted you to switch, to trade in the old thing for something new? 

This week's theme is trading in.

Trophy

What is one visible, physical sign of your success?  What possession or emblem shows, for anyone who knows the story behind it, that you triumphed at something or that you reached a certain threshold of success? 

Balance of love (part 2)

There are some things you love but you just can't have, at least not right now.  They're out of your budget, out of reach, impractical, impossible.  And there are things that you love that are in your life right now — in your community, among your possessions, part of your routine.  If you could put those two categories on an imaginary love scale, which side would tip the balance: the stuff that's "already here," or the stuff that's "out there"?

This week's theme is the things you love.

Balance of love (part 1)

Think of all the things in your life. There are things that you love, things that move your heart in some way.  There are also some things that you dislike, and some things that are just there.  Within this whole picture, how much space is occupied by love? What proportion of your time, space, and attention is taken up with things that you love?

This week's theme is the things you love.

How to find a treasure

Thinking of all the things you love, did you mostly come across them accidentally and unexpectedly, or did you actively go searching for them?

This week's theme is the things you love.

What dreams are made of

Dreams sometimes seem to improvise with the details of our current lives.  What is one relatively new item in your daily life that has already made an appearance in your dreams?

This week's theme is dreams.

Tell us a story: a great find

Tell us a story about an unexpected shopping triumph. Where were you when you stumbled across something rare and special, or got something you needed or wanted at a laughably low price?

Tell us a story: ironic timing

What was something that you finally gave away or threw away, and then shortly afterward unexpectedly found a need for it and wished you had kept it?

Larger and Smaller

As your needs change and styles evolve, what is one thing (besides clothing) that you've gotten in progressively larger sizes over the years?

What is one thing (besides clothing) that you've gotten in progressively smaller sizes?

What's old, what's new

A newly made replica of an old design: is that an old thing or a new thing? What if you take pieces of old, broken pottery and assemble them into a mosaic, a new work of art? What about an ancient piece of machinery that's had every part replaced with a new part over the years?

What do you have that's a perfect blend of old and new?

This week's theme is old things and new things.