What Remains When All Else Fades

What personal belongings do you hold most dear?

What Remains When All Else Fades

On the Personal Belongings We Hold Most Dear

✍️Authors Note:

I write these reflections as a form of dialogue—between memory and the present, between solitude and connection. If my words resonate, challenge, or comfort you, I invite you to share your thoughts. Sometimes, in speaking of small things, we uncover the vastness of a life.

Letters to the Prompt

This morning’s prompt invited a deceptively simple question: What personal belongings do you hold most dear? At first glance, it seems a matter of inventory—an invitation to list our favorite objects. But behind the question lies a deeper appeal: to uncover what these belongings mean, and why certain items—often small, sometimes even broken—carry more weight than the most luxurious thing we own.

Possessions, after all, are never merely things. They hold emotional and symbolic significance, serving as silent witnesses to our lives. Their true value often lies not in what they do, but in what they evoke: memory, love, loss, identity.

What strikes me most is the curious interplay between the conscious and the unconscious in this process. Some cherished items rise readily to the surface: a photo in a frame, a well-worn book, a gift from a loved one now gone. Others live quietly in our inner world, only revealing their presence when stirred by a sudden memory, an old song, or the scent of something familiar. These are the belongings that reside undisturbed in the soul—untouched by time, yet saturated with it.

There are, for instance, the handwritten letters and postcards from friends, tucked in a drawer but never out of reach. The faded photographs of days long gone. My father’s glass prism, which caught the light in our living room like a little miracle. Recordings of my mother at the piano, each note echoing through time. The small, sometimes whimsical, gifts from friends—especially the elephants, each one bearing a story and a smile.

Then there are the items that speak of companionship and shared memory: the chess set where my brother and I fought our first battles, his Go board, the collection of Hermes ties I selected over the years with some care and a touch of vanity. And in every room, the books and paintings—the quiet companions that remind me daily of what makes life not only livable, but meaningful.

All of these things form a tapestry, rich with memory, laughter, sorrow, and grace. They are anchors of identity, fragments of a personal history that no one else can quite replicate.

And yet, I hold all this with an awareness of impermanence. These items, like ourselves, are only passing through. As I have often said—and it still makes me smile—“my last coat will have no pockets.”

Perhaps this is why the belongings we hold most dear are not truly ours to keep. They are entrusted to us for a time, to carry forward the stories they contain, until they, too, find rest.

What about you?

What are the objects you hold most dear? Not the ones with price tags, but the ones that carry your memories, your laughter, your quiet moments? I’d love to know which belongings live quietly in your soul—and what stories they might tell.

Netherlands, WJJH, June 2025

📌 Blog Excerpt

Reflection on the significance of personal belongings, emphasizing that they evoke memories, emotions, and identity rather than material value. Through examples of cherished items, I explore the interplay of memory and connection. Ultimately, these belongings serve as anchors of personal history, underscoring their impermanence and importance in our lives.