Is Collecting Who We Are Or What We Do?

[Bellevi]

This is a really interesting question. Before I got into ponies, I've always been a collector. I used to collect dinosaur toys, coins, for a short while, I collected interesting rocks I found. There's definitely a certain trait that makes a collector, so I feel like what I do, in relation to my passions, makes me what I am.

So...both? Also, see the following: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjqdlceLAdw

[Sarah-Bee]

Being a pony collector is definitely part of who I am. A lot of people define themselves by their careers, such as when you see people on tv on a game show for example, they would be introduced "and here is Sarah, an accountant from Barnsley" - I'd hate that for me! I'm NOT an accountant. That's what I do for a living, to earn money, it's not WHO I am. I am a wife, a daughter, a friend, a collector, a lover of music, a cat person and a gardener I'm also several other things like 'completely and utterly bonkers' but we'll not go there

[AnnaPommes]

if you say " i am a collector" in german it sounds more than a gatherer (from hunter and gatherer). which is a bit ironic, because in terms of ponycollecting i get 90% of them by "gathering" them on fleamarkets.   so yes, i am a gatherer.
in paper, fabric and ponies.
it is a part of me, also because i love the aspect of trading in collecting. and the collecting community influenced me a lot since .. uhm,.. 8 years? yes! being feminine is okay! whoh!

would it be better to say than that collecting is not who i am but the community and the collecting influenced me to be who i am today?
( thank you guys, by the way. )

[Icecrystalline]

Its what I do. I'm not defined by my collecting of cheerful plastic ponies, its not part of me, just skmejing I enjoy to do.

[Sky_Rocket_Sammie]

It is something I do but not who I am. That I collect MLP, in reality the smallest of my collections. Is just one aspect of my hobbies but not how I define myself.

[katrine2309]

I love toys, I love to watch kids play with toys and love to dream back at when I used to play with them as well. And I still play, but maybe not in the way I did when I was a kid. I write stories, and I have a vivid imagination which I use to make up fairytales for the kids in my life. They love it - and I love it!

But collecting toys, or toys in general is more what I do than who I am. I think it really depends on how you relate to all this. Toys is one of my hobbies, one of many. And in my case, there is other aspects of my life that makes up more of my identity than toys and toy collecting.

[Eaglefeather]

I've always collected items, but it's a secret part of who I am. It's a hobby that I enjoy when I'm apart from other people. I don't want to be made fun of for collecting plastic toys, as most people just don't understand. I keep my toys hidden in my room and bring them out when I'm alone. So, one part of me is a typical, fun-loving teen, and the other part is a toy lover who secretly goes to Toys 'R' Us and eBay for more toys.

[Majesty]

I'd say it's both.  I'm a mlp collector (who I am) and my hobby is mlp collecting (what I do).

I haven't actually gotten any ponies in a while due to being unemployed for 8 months and I have to slowly build up my savings again.  As soon as I'm ready I'm going to buy ponies again from people here.  I'm very excited and also very impatient.   I've collected other things besides MLP.  I used to collect webkinz, action figures from metal gear solid and tomb raider but I've stopped and have stopped for a while.  MLP has stayed with me.

[Whippycorn]

It's part of who I am, because it is an expression of things I value, like childhood and simple pleasures, colour and artistry, and really cute animals! 

[hathorcat]

Interesting question.

I am going to say I refuse to be defined - I am a woman of mystery In the same way I don't want be defined as just what I do for a living or just by who I am in my relationships or by the organisations I am involved in and interests I have. People are too complicated for that. I don't think its fair to say its "who I am". But pony collecting is a large part of my life, its my main hobby and one of my biggest interests so perhaps its an element of who I am but does not define everything I am.

Wow...majorly introspective in this thread.

[Dewprincess]

Collecting is a part of who I am, but not all that I am.  I am passionate about it and love hunting for new stuff and sharing my passion with others.  There are definitely people in this world that know me solely as "the pony lady". However, there are many many others who know me for other things, and while most of them know I am a toy collector, not all do.

[mlp4me]

Ponies are more or less what I do, besides work and all the other stuff that life throws at me... LOL.
They're a fun hobby!
However, I've had to take a big step back over this last month, haven't completed a custom and have put selling/trading/buying on hiatus. It's been hard, but it's not like they ever really go away either...

[Katgyrl]

For me it's totally a little of both. I've always been a collector but ponies is where I really got into it, especially now that I have daughters to share them with. Ponies are for sure only a part of who I am, but a big part right now. Many people don't know about my pony obsession, but I am not afraid to talk about it. I even got to help another mom ID some of her childhood ponies. I sympathize with those who feel like you have to hide something you enjoy, but I don't think you should have to! True friends love you no matter what your oddities or quirks are.

[Rosette]

Maybe a little of both.  Collecting MLP is a hobby, it ties into another hobby (thrifting) and it consumes a significant part of my discretionary spending and is the source of the most "stuff" in my home. 

Others identify me as a MLP collector but I think they suppose it is more critical to my self-image than I do. It is a fun part of my life but not the dominant theme of it or me. 

[Nasaniaru]

I've read what you all have to say, and I can say that without a doubt, I'm a collector at heart. I collect everything that I am interested in pony not-with-standing. I've been buying anime series for about a decade now and that could be viewed as a form of collecting. I collect Doctor Who DVD's and am only 50 away from having a complete set. I also have been collecting Transformers since 2007. And Pony is another thing that I collect that started only a couple of years ago. I think that collecting is something that could be engraved in your DNA. You either like collecting stuff, or you are more of a casual collector.

Of course I'm much more than a collector if I think about it. I'm an okay big brother, a reliable worker, and other things that I can't quite think of at the moment. But collecting is a fun and pleasurable activity to me and gives my life the most meaning. I'm a Whovian, a Brony, an Otaku, and a Transformer fan. My collections are the main thing that I do in each of the fandoms I've mentioned. I am a collector first and foremost. But I can be other things when needed.