This post really doesn’t have to do with Chris’ post but it got me thinking about my hording tendencies.
I have a lot of junk.
Here is my life-flow of collecting junk. When I say collecting, I don’t me actual collecting a specific item but acquiring more and more general items in my life.
In year 2-8 of marriage we lived in a fairly large mobile home in Rhome (TX, not Rome). I seemed to begin collecting lots of stuff in general, trying to not only have a couple’s collection of stuff but having a guest room, work shed, and all the board games I used to get. It started getting a little out of hand.
Fast forward to getting a great deal on a 4,200 square foot house and man… I unknowingly acquired a butt-ton of stuff. I didn’t know it until I moved out (and into a 2,200 square foot house).
Fast-fast forward to today and all that (well 99%) of it is in storage while I try to sort my life out. It is a 21×45′ unit. This is the kind with a bay door and tall enough to put a RV in. It’s full…… full…..
Sure, there are some items I could jettison but I have lots of good stuff. Besides furniture, there are a lot of tools, books, games, etc. Why ditch it? Might as well keep it all. I have made an effort to get rid of stuff from time to time in a way that would make me maximum profit. I hardly throw anything away but on our way out of my last house I did donate a lot of stuff to thrift stores. Maybe a full pickup truck worth, but not enough to make a dent.
I like well-ordered clutter. A crammed house (crammed in a neat, orderly way) is comforting to me.
Hording to me is more of keeping things that NEED to be thrown out. Like paper-goods, trash, things intended to be used once, etc. I don’t think Chris is a hoarder. I’ve seen enough of that TV show to know for sure I know no hoarders.
So I don’t know what term to use to describe my want to keep lots of stuff. I guess I can’t use ‘hoarder’ after what I’ve said above, but I do like my stuff. I love having what I need when I need it (or having it when someone else needs it).
“Look at this scrap of wood. That might come in handy one day. I think I’ll keep it in this pile.”
Looking for some more hoarding info? Chris wrote this Hoarding Blog in 2010 and followed it up with my own thoughts back in 2010 as well.
Here is another post I made back in 2010 about moving out of storage (more hoarding talk).