Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

What Price are you Paying? And is it What you Want?

Antique What Price are you Paying? And is it What you Want?

Everything has a price.

The constant chatter at the brocante goes like this:

 

Stone urn full of old books

How much did it cost? An arm and a leg? 

Why did you pay so much? 

Was it something you’ve been looking for?

How can you tell if it is real?

Where did you find it?

Are you sure it is going to fit in your house? 

Is it in perfect condition?

 

Stone column

Everything has a price.

Sometimes, the thing we want the most cost pennies,

yet other times it costs us nearly everything we have.

The question is: Is it worth it?

 

Zinc leaf

Often, I wonder if the questions

asked about buying antiques

 

Statue in terre cuite

 

…are not under-cover questions about life.

 

 

Comments

12 responses to “What Price are you Paying? And is it What you Want?”

  1. Zosia

    Life is a brocante, after all: memories, life histories, old friends, used furniture, old loves, fragile hearts, bruised egos, wedding dresses passed down from a grandmother to a daughter and then to a granddaughter, silver spoons for lucky ones…and so on and so forth :-).

    Reply
  2. g

    how very astute of you to make that conection and for what it is worth- my 2 cents- i would answer with A RESOUNDING YES!!

    Reply
  3. martina

    Does it make me happy? Can the flaw be repaired? Is there something better? Yup, your insight seems correct!

    Reply
  4. Chris Wittmann

    You’re very wise Corey 🙂

    Reply
  5. Becky F

    That’s lovely Zosia. So true.

    Reply
  6. Sheri

    What I want: about 12+ Spega yogurt jars
    What are they worth to me? ALOT!! Because I can’t find them in the U.S., I want them even MORE!
    Let me know if you find any and you can resell them to me!! Seriously!

    Reply
  7. Diogenes

    What a great post.
    The question I always ask myself is: will this (painting, sculpture, chair, etc.) give me enjoyment tomorrow, next year and the years after? Will I get bored, or will I always love it?
    I think you are so right…brocante questions are really about life.

    Reply
  8. Debra

    I ask my question all the time and the answer is usually no, but I still get caught up in paying the price . . .I get what I wanted, and a few days or months later I think why? The beauty of age is knowing that it’s not worth it. Makes you wonder about that old saying; the best things in life are free – laughter, friends, love, helping others . . .reading your blog (had to throw that in to lighten the moment).

    Reply
  9. Peggy Braswell

    Interesting questions. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

    Reply
  10. Kiki

    your questions are exactly the same (maybe without the word ‘brocante’… lol) I ask myself on a daily (and often nightly)basis!
    I don’t always have the answers though!
    Had a work mate who told me at every occasion (usually when something unpleasant took place): Kiki, you pay a price for everything in life… it went on my nerves after a while but I realised she often was right all the same!
    Try to read your blog but am too occuppied to write as I’d dearly like to do. Sorry about that.
    Love!

    Reply
  11. Marie-Noëlle

    So true …
    To try and create a link between the past and the future … Living the present time …

    Reply
  12. Brenda, Walker, LA

    Good things come to those who wait! If I see it, and it is within my limit, I get it, I am usually very disciplined. However; There are some things that really “Yank My Gizzard”, “Speak to my heart of hearts”, “Make me tingle”…ect….and those things might never fit into my disciplined category, and somewhere along the way, it all balances out!

    Reply

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