I thought of the obvious answers; family heirlooms, gifts etc, but then when I properly thought about it I realised that a lot of people probably treasure things that they have bought with their own (hard earned!) money more than things which were bought for them. This is most likely because it gives you a sense of achievement - it feels good to be able to afford something yourself.
Anyway, to conduct my interviews I thought I'd take advantage of my flatmate having some of her friends from her course over (psychology) since it would be an easy way to interview people in a comfortable environment that I didn't know personally. I managed to catch them before they had drank too much and got some valuable answers to my questions.
Apart from one minor mishap (a clumsy interviewee spilling a drink on my notes) all went well.
The first girl that I spoke to took a while to take it seriously, but she got there in the end. At first she was stumped by the question, not knowing how to reply. Then I noticed that she had been fingering a necklace the whole time she thought. When asked about the necklace she lit up - it had been her mothers. She claimed to have received the necklace on her 18th birthday from her mother and been delighted with it as she had admired it on her mother before. She said that she always had it on and could never part with it for any amount of money. She then went on to say she'd swap it for a bottle of vodka but I assumed that was a joke..!
Interview number two was with Becky. She immediately stated that her most treasured item was a blanket which she made with her mother and sister when she was young. She still had the blanket and used it as a throw on her bed. Although it may not be worth anything she said that she could never part with it - it held too many happy memories for her.
Craig said that his most treasured item was his car. I immediately thought 'typical boy answer' but then he said that he had bought it himself. Most guys that I know have had their cars bought for them, so I was pleasantly surprised. Craig went on to say that he worked very hard until he was 19 and saved up £2000 to buy his car. Despite the fact that his friends were driving about in brand new cars and he was in a second hand one, he still felt proud because it was something that he had achieved by himself, he hadn't just accepted money from his parents like most others.
Leanne showed me a beautiful ring - white gold with a big fat diamond in the middle - and then said firmly;
'It is NOT an engagement ring! It's not even on that finger!', to which I hastily nodded and continued with the interview. She had received the ring from her boyfriend on their second anniversary (terrified that it was an engagement ring!) and hadn't taken it off since. When I asked her if she would ever be tempted to sell it she immediately declined, saying that it meant too much to her. Unless she got the right price on Ebay.
I then started to think I was losing their attention in favour of the bottles of wine, so I interviewed one last person and left them to it. Liam's favourite item was his Xbox. He had received it as a gift from his parents on Christmas and played it all the time. He said he would only sell it if a better console came out. I couldn't get anything more in depth from him so left it at that.
Although some of the answers could have been more helpful, I found the results interesting. It seemed that the girls were more sentimental than the boys, choosing objects which reminded them of someone special, whereas the boys were more interested in 'boys toys' but I suppose men don't often pass down jewellery or make quilts with their sons...
It made me think properly about my most treasured objects. At first I thought of a necklace which was given to me by my mother. It is a simple silver necklace with a little elephant pendant on it. Doesn't sound like much but it means the world to me and I barely take it off. I think knowing that my mother wore this necklace as a child makes it more valuable to me, and I think of my mum whenever I look at it. I also thought of a stuffed toy lamb I still have and have owned since I was a baby, imaginatively called 'Lamby'. I think most girls had a Lamby actually. Anyway I love this toy, it still has pride of place on my bed. Considering the fact that I am 20 this might seem a tad childish, but it means something to me.
Taking this into consideration I realised how difficult a question it is to answer, 'What is your most treasured possession?'. Most people will have more than one favourite object so it is hard to choose just one.
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