To My Fellow VFers with Large Collections...

[OSusanna]

Late chiming in because this thread has really made me think. Excess with this particular area of my life doesn’t impact me emotionally at all. In contrast, excess purchasing/ownership of other categories has me lately putting a halt to any expansion. I tend to overspend/accumulate in three categories: workout DVD’s, makeup and perfume. I feel guilt And stress about the latter two likely because over accumulation leads to waste because those products don’t last forever.

My workouts on the other hand seem to be always there for me even if some of my choices have been aspirational and I’ve made some mistakes with my purchasing for sure. I keep them because there is no harm in it, I have the room. In retrospect I am elated I have done all the purchasing I have because I use workouts that are no longer in print or hard to find most of the time. The past two years I have been working out at least once every three days. I know that’s not enough but I would never make it into the gym that often consistently. My larger collection lets me switch on a dime between barre, light weight/high rep, gym style lifting, step, hi-low, Anna Benson type hybrid workouts, Leslie, Classical Stretch, t-tapp and rebounder. It’s all on dvd too so it’s all mine.

My family has discussed that most people have at least one area of excess/accumulation/collection in their lives. I’m glad one of mine is video workouts. I think it’s only been beneficial to my health and not at all detrimental. As far as my other over purchasing, I have begun to rein it in. It is too much.

[acey]

Originally Posted by bubbles76

You all are making me feel so much better :: As for what gets done with your collection when you leave, Big Bubble knows to give it to the nearest battered women's shelter. But I really like the idea of a VF Legacy Buddy too. My collection is huge though.

You all have no idea how much you've enabled me and made me feel ok about over 20 years, since I first bought a bootleg Taebo studio advanced VHS off a NYC sidewalk vendor.

I swear I think I'm pushing 2,000. I began moving my videos from my studio apartment to my empty parents' house 25 miles up the road a couple months ago, because I will eventually become the caretaker of that house. My BF and I just used extra-strong garbage bags to haul them. It took 3 or 4 trips and now I've begun trying to unpack them -- and I swear, it's like 30 bags of videos. I'm trying to store them in such a way that they aren't double- or triple-stacked like they were in my studio, so that I can see any one video or DVD at any given time.

I'm a little embarrassed that I have not opened at least a 3rd of this vast collection. I keep saying for years I *will* get into yoga, so I keep buying all the yoga videos.

But as people have said, there are worse habits. I'm not hurting anyone else, I didn't go broke, and home workouts kept me sane first through my divorce, then through this epidemic.

Not gonna lie, though, I'm grateful for streaming and for YouTube so that I can keep this physical collection from growing. It's too much.

Just did an awesome CIA workout that I never found on VHS, on YouTube today with a very young Greg Twombley and a very young Franny Benedetto, two 20-ish minute hi-lo segments. Wish ALL the CIA workouts were available on YouTube.

[dlb]

I'm sure I have 500+ dvds at this point & I don't plan on stopping. My husband has 1000's of cds so he can't say anything (nor would he). He is a recently retired cabinet maker & last night I asked him to design some kind of cabinet that will hold my dvds rather than the units I have in my workout area. Sounds like he will design it similar to a "lazy susan" that rotates. I'll see if this happens...

[donnamp]

Originally Posted by FirmDancer

This is me! My plan though is that once I retire, I'll be able to start with the easiest workouts, get stronger, and eventually make my way through even all my Cathe DVD. For now, I fluctuate between Jessica Smith and KCM.

This is me as well! I have hung on to some things (too many!) b/c I am hopeful that once i retire I will have more time to devote to working out and will be able to do some of the DVDs I have kept. I don't see myself doing super advanced stuff, ever, b/c I never really did, or enjoyed it very much when I tried. But, I would like to be able to do some of my "old" workouts again - they don't get used these days due to the length of the workouts and the time I workout - early morning - I think once I retire and have more time and can workout at a different time of day I may be able to pull out some of my longer and more advanced moderate workouts.

All that being said, there are things in my collection that I know I will probably never use and should just get rid of....it is the one area of my life that I have trouble "decluttering" - clothes, shoes, household appliances, etc, I can let go. Even books, I have been able to let go/donate - but my workout DVDs, it is hard.

And, I mostly do streaming these days, too!

Donna

[fanofladyvols]

Originally Posted by acey

It took 3 or 4 trips and now I've begun trying to unpack them -- and I swear, it's like 30 bags of videos. I'm trying to store them in such a way that they aren't double- or triple-stacked like they were in my studio, so that I can see any one video or DVD at any given time..

Ahhh, Acey..that sounds like fun to me! I hope you enjoy that as much I would. Like opening Santa's sacks is what
that sounds like

Originally Posted by acey

Wish ALL the CIA workouts were available on YouTube.

+1

[acey]

Originally Posted by fanofladyvols

Ahhh, Acey..that sounds like fun to me! I hope you enjoy that as much I would. Like opening Santa's sacks is what
that sounds like


+1

LOL you're right on. I keep exclaiming, "Hey, here's that workout I loved but haven't done in years!" "Oh yeah, I did buy this one, didn't I?"

One of these days I'll even figure out some sort of order...yoga vids here, dance vids there, Firms here, Cathe there...

[FirmDancer]

Originally Posted by acey

I'm a little embarrassed that I have not opened at least a 3rd of this vast collection.

You are not alone

[seagreen01]

My collection is vast but I have been working out from home and collecting workouts since my twenties, I’m in my sixties now. In all that time I have only gotten rid of a few workouts and done most of them many times over and at the minimum at least twice.
It’s not until the last few years that I discovered thrift shopping that my collection went from large to vast.
There was only one time I came inside from the letterbox with a delivery from Total Fitness when I looked at my collection, looked at my latest DVD delivery and felt my heart pound and my spirits sink. I realised that somewhere I had crossed over from an avid home exerciser to a collector.
I got over that awful feeling. I don’t collect anything else. It is my lifetime passion and healthy besides. I have workouts at every level to keep me going from gentle and recovery to advanced and quite a few untried. DH has few favourites he uses too.

Having said all that, I do sometimes wish that I had come to fitness straight to streaming and that it was available way back in the day because environmentally my attitude to owning things has evolved. I won’t waste my collection at this point, it will be used and I am doing better for the environment in other ways. Yes there is guilt.....for the environment.

[Taiga]

I get a warm, fuzzy feeling when I go to the public library (or a book store). I browse and enjoy the view before picking out a gem. I don't stress about how many times I'm going to read it or if there will be a torturous pull between my mystery books and science fiction etc. It's all about the experience with that particular gem on that day. After that I may reread it, pass it on to a friend or save it for a rainy day without any guilt. Nobody would expect me to read only that (or even 10 different books) for the rest of my life. I take the same approach with my fitness dvds. If I use it once and enjoy it or learn from it, then it was worth it. It is no different than if I took a Saturday class (which typically is more expensive). It's just part of my fitness education and entertainment. So how lucky is it to have a copy of that class that I can repeat for free as many times as I want? How lucky is it to have a library at home so that I can wander through my choices while in my PJs?

I get that it would be a problem if someone was spending more money than they could afford or hoarding things they never used or that oppressed their living space. If everything (make-up, clothes, shoes, hobbies etc) is library size, then there is likely a compulsion in the background and it needs to be addressed. Regular purging to avoid guilt can also signal that there is a bigger problem. That falls in a different category in my mind.

I think the key is not trying to maximize. Enjoy learning the new movements and how they feel just for that sake. Enjoy trying something new, even if you ultimately decide it is not for you. You can free float (pick something randomly) or make a plan (rotations are a blast) but then be totally present with that. Let everything else on your shelf wait patiently. If they won't stop whispering, box up all but 2 or 3 categories and switch out your shelves a few times per year. I've gone years between repeating certain rotations and it almost always feels great to be back. I've shelved things and revisited only to find that years later I understand the movement better and am getting added benefit. I've tried new instructors that have enlightened my understanding of movements that I had done repeatedly without the light bulb moment. My perspective and my appreciation for different movements and instructors continues to change over time. I like a library that has the power to keep up with that.

[Vintage VFer]

I keep seeing this thread title and then my mind goes blank. I should have some sage wisdom about this.