Embrace the past

Re: Bill Jamieson’s “Time for a national de- cluttering” ( Perspective, 3 September), “The past is another country” is a generalisation. Most of us can be divided into two categories, “hoarders” and “throwers out” – and we must find a balance between the two. Whether it be correspondence or documents, possessions or collections, we need to hold on to the things that matter and discard the things that don’t; the problem lies in deciding which are which. I’m a hoarder and am really proud of my 67 photograph albums, started when I first married into the Kinloch Anderson family, and I’m relying on my family not to throw them away.

For me, the past is not another country, but rather provides an invaluable insight into the culture and the civilisation of our own. Indeed, we fail all too often to learn the lessons from the past that could have spared us some of the disasters of today. Fortunately, in the world of art, music and literature, the great works survive on their merit.

So let’s find a way to keep our collections – not broken bric- a- brac – but fine pieces of memorabilia, diaries , emotional correspondence, paintings and things we have made. Mobiles are used for immediate, mundane purposes and are replacing print on paper and photographs in albums. I wonder how our present lifestyle will be preserved for future generations? DEIRDRE KINLOCH

ANDERSON Kings Road, Longniddry