A while back I talked
about hoarding and my denial of any such behavior in “I Am Not A Hoarder, I Just Like to Collect Things”. Instead, I referred to myself as a collector. At the time it made sense. Collectors
collect things so they can put them on display for people to see. And I
certainly have my share of tchotchkes adorning my shelves. Remember my
collection of shot glasses filled with sand from beaches all over the world? If
not, here’s a reminder:
Clutterbugs
differ from hoarders in that they can rationally look at the objects in their
life and assess their usefulness. Hoarders obsess about their possessions and
can’t decide what is and isn’t valuable, and thus often retain garbage or
damaged items. Hoarders seem to be completely unaware of the dangers of their
hoarding tendencies, while clutterers are often bothered by their random piles
of “stuff”. Yay! I’m bothered! There’s hope for me!
I
recently confessed to my friend that I wanted to start eliminating the clutter
from my life. (It should be noted that this is the same friend who originally
accused me of being a hoarder). Well my confession was music to his ears. I
came home one night to discover ALL of my books ALL over my living room floor. He
had also disassembled one of my bookcases, which was on the verge of collapsing
from the sheer weight of its contents. Upon seeing my books laid out in various
stacks, I almost started crying. How could he DO this to me? I wanted to take
baby steps, not tackle everything all at once! I felt so overwhelmed. But then I
realized that sometimes you have to pull the bandaid off forcefully and feel
the sting. And it stung! It was very emotional going through books that I had
on my shelves for literally years. And many were books that I still loved. But
did I really NEED them? Am I really ever going to read the Twilight series
again? Or the Hunger Games? And what the hell was “Eat, Pray, Love” still doing
on my shelf anyway? I never could manage to make it past India. (Spirituality
motivated by a healthy book advance is definitely not what I consider inspiring.)
Time to purge! I felt proud to put so many books into a donation box and
condense my books into one less bookcase.
But
that’s only the beginning. What about those two file cabinets? What the heck is
in there? (Cover letters for submissions dating back to before the millennium
apparently). And what about those shot glasses filled with sand? It seemed cute
and kitschy at the time, but why was I doing it in the first place and is it
something I want to continue? Do I even like that miniature ceramic teapot sitting
on my shelf that my mom got at someone’s Bar Mitzvah? Why do I still have that
magazine with the cast of the “Big Bang Theory” on the cover??? I don’t think
there’s necessarily a right or wrong answer to any of these questions, but you
at least have to ASK yourself and see what answers come. When you’re a
clutterbug, piles just seem to mysteriously show up without you even noticing
it. It’s critical to determine which piles are the ones to keep and then find a
freaking place to put everything so it’s no longer in a pile!
It’s
been said if you clutter your physical life with unnecessary items, your emotional
life is bound to feel cluttered too. And now that I am making my way through my
own clutter, I tend to agree. Letting go of things is hard, but at the end of the
day they are just THINGS—physical manifestations of my memories and feelings.
Throwing something out does not take away what I feel inside. Maybe it even
makes my feelings more special because they’re not attached to some random
object sitting in my apartment for no good reason.
I’m
not planning on rolling a dumpster into my apartment and depositing everything
into it, if that’s what anyone is thinking. But I DO believe I can take stock of
exactly WHAT I have and then determine what I truly need AND want. It’s not always easy
to figure that out. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. I’m just in the
beginning phases now, but I will keep you posted on my progress. Here’s the end
result of my bookcase reorganization:
Not bad, right? Now I have to tackle my desk… my sanctuary
for everything creative. Somehow I have a feeling that will be harder than my
books but I think I’m ready to take the plunge! Geronimo!!!
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