Kinda, I gotten much better at it. Most of the stuff finds good homes or gets used by me or someone I know though.
I let stuff I find free or get good deals on. When the right things come together I use it to make stuff. When room gets tight and it sat around too long I give it away or scrap it.
My kids are all hoarders.. it drives me MAD the house is never tidy cos as soon as i do it they mess it up with their clutter everywhere :( I could do housework 24/7 and it would still be a tip :(
I am a sentimentalist but being a Libra I strive harmony and for minimal clutter..
Hi Element 99, No, although there are times in my life I have really enjoyed beautiful possessions...but then I move or something, and just give stuff away.
One of my lifelong friends is a hoarder, though, and she suffers greatly. Her husband left her...and it was because after 18 years, possessions still meant more to her than he did. She actually struck him because he moved some things, to make room for guests walk and then to sit down.
* * * I did some reading, and hoarding can definitely be an addiction. So if someone forcibly removes your belongings, you can actually become suicidal. I asked my friend about that, and she confirmed that yes, she could understand feeling that devastated.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at March 10, 2017 10:40 AM MST
I would not be surprised about the parallel with OCS, Harry, if anything more intractable than OCS. As my dear friend ages, and people are driven away...and she is so beautiful in every other way.
That's my wife. She never had much of anything, but then her wealthy clients, who she cleans their homes, started giving her stuff. She rarely gives anything away and it sits in our garage, gathering dust and mold. To me it is mostly junk and I have given up on her ever cleaning it up. Very frustrating and a main point for our arguments.
I can't even imagine living with someone like my dear friend... I notice that when she comes to visit, she really seems to love the clear spaces in my own home...she brings her car full of stuff, and takes hours unloading it ALL into my house.
I have learned to (gently) set some guidelines, but it is a constant struggle with the invasiveness...as much as I care for her, and see her beauty, her kindness, it is impossible to spend as much time with her as we both might like.
I'm sorry you are going through that. It was very upsetting for me to see my mother living that way and she refused to let me get rid of anything. Once I recognized it was an illness, I was able to keep myself from getting angry. It just made me very sad and frustrated. She refused to get help for it. I can't imagine being forced to live with someone like that. You have my sympathies.
"Hoarder" is an emotionally charged word so I refuse to discuss it. I do like to keep some food in the house. Since I don't have a car, I tend to buy all I can when I go to a store. I only buy sale items, so I get a lot for my money. I only need to shop once or twice a year, but of course I go more often than that just because I don't have anything else to do.
I always thought I was because I liked to keep things that made me sentimental, but my ex was really bad about keeping everything. When he moved out, I got to purge the house and it was a very freeing experience. Until a couple of weeks ago, my kids had the master bedroom and I had a smaller room that still had all their stuff in it. When I finally got everything set up the way I wanted it in the master bedroom, I realized I really don't have much of anything that's mine. My clothes don't even fill my closet or dresser. My dresser tops are bare. My desk is uncluttered. It's kind of surreal because I've been buried under everyone else's stuff for most of my life. Now I can't keep the kids out of my room. They keep saying it's the nicest room in the house. It's not. It's just empty and they all apparently like the empty space. I think I'll be making another pass through the house to see what else I can get rid of.
No. Both hubby and I are 'clean freaks'...lol We're forever cleaning and downsizing our place. We have a small apartment s there's no room for clutter, for us anyway. I did collect 'angel' stuff at one time, but all my porcelain angels were kept in a china cabinet. Since moving to our place now I have given away many of my collection. I have asthma, so it is not healthy to have anything that will collect dust.
This calls to mind the cleaning after my mother died. Most of her life was spent in poverty. She had dozens of sweater boxes full of stuffed animals, doll parts, and sewing scraps. But the one that crushed me was a box of shopping bags. You know those pretty foil shopping bags that department stores give everybody? She had saved every one she ever got like it was a souvenir of a special occasion. Just in case she might never get anything pretty again.
Benedict Arnold 