Curse lose one small item

[Capnswop]

I have seen this on reddit where people are saying that if someone plays a "lose a small item" curse, that it has to be in play, not from you hand. Also that cards in your hand "don't exist" till you play them?? If the card doesn't say specifically "choose one small item in play" and just says "choose one small item" you can discard a small item from your hand, correct?