I Don't Hoarde I Collect

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

Another moment of self reflection.

Okay since the lock down, I  have spent way more time at home than usual. So why is my home becoming smaller and growing...."stuff"?!

I had a great idea about four years ago. My Mother had a bunch of stuff she had collected over her near ninety years that I do want to have to deal with. So I told her that all the things she has stuffed away in boxes and would make wonderful Christmas gifts, and she would be able to see her loved ones enjoy them while she was still alive.

She loved the idea and things were going well, until family members and loved ones started thinking it was a great idea to leave their priceless (only to the new owner) family heirlooms, with my Mother. After all she has done a good job of keeping them safe all these years.

Now under any category anywhere outside of my family, the majority of the stuff, would not even sell at a garage sale. Most are just tiny bits of memorabilia, that means nothing to anyone outside the family that has not heard the stories. They are always a huge hit at the family reunions and the favorite for the kids. They love rummaging around the boxes and asking to be told the history of the items, over and over and over. Especially the pieces that their mother or father are connected to.

I am seriously ready to downsize again. Being here too long is starting to make me feel cramped. I am not going to pay for storage for stuff that does not really belong to me, so after the lock down is fully over, I am going on a road trip. I will leave looking like Santa Claus and come back looking like the inside of my bank account.

[Mystic Wanderer]

Same here.
Right now I have things from my mother's house filling my closet, bins of things belonging to my daughter and step son, and on top of that, my husband is as close to being a hoarder without being one that you can get.

My den is being used as a storage room presently. My plans are to get in there as soon as the weather cools down a bit and start taking all those things to the nearby thrift shop.
Yes, there are things that are sentimental to me, but they are packed away and not doing me one bit of good; they're just taking up space. I never bring them out to enjoy them, so why not pass them on to someone who could?

It will be nice to get things clutter free in my den and turn it back into a real room again. I might make it an exercise room, or a reading area with a large bookshelf that will hold all my books I have stored here and there. Still deciding.

Anyway, good luck with your project.  I feel you.

[drussell41]

Another moment of self reflection.

Okay since the lock down, I  have spent way more time at home than usual. So why is my home becoming smaller and growing...."stuff"?!

I had a great idea about four years ago. My Mother had a bunch of stuff she had collected over her near ninety years that I do want to have to deal with. So I told her that all the things she has stuffed away in boxes and would make wonderful Christmas gifts, and she would be able to see her loved ones enjoy them while she was still alive.

She loved the idea and things were going well, until family members and loved ones started thinking it was a great idea to leave their priceless (only to the new owner) family heirlooms, with my Mother. After all she has done a good job of keeping them safe all these years.

Now under any category anywhere outside of my family, the majority of the stuff, would not even sell at a garage sale. Most are just tiny bits of memorabilia, that means nothing to anyone outside the family that has not heard the stories. They are always a huge hit at the family reunions and the favorite for the kids. They love rummaging around the boxes and asking to be told the history of the items, over and over and over. Especially the pieces that their mother or father are connected to.

I am seriously ready to downsize again. Being here too long is starting to make me feel cramped. I am not going to pay for storage for stuff that does not really belong to me, so after the lock down is fully over, I am going on a road trip. I will leave looking like Santa Claus and come back looking like the inside of my bank account.

I can't stand clutter either, but I really love picturing your telling stories to kids about their family through the items.   :)     I think it helps anchor kids somehow.  Just an intuitive thing based on my own experiences.

[MisterSpock]

I hate clutter. I look around at all the crap I've accumulated and just want it to go away. I used to be into cars, but dumped a fair amount of the "collection". Tools, nick knacks, home theater crap, other electronics. I just want to get rid of all the clutter. The only thing I can't bring myself to view as something to get rid of is my firearms. 

Not because I'm some crazy nut, but because it's honestly the last hobby I have(I'm done with cars and tech). 

In the end, it's material crap, it's a burden. 

When you can't get up and go because of all your "stuff", I view it as nothing more than a ball and chain attached to your ankle.

[F2d5thCav]

@"MisterSpock" 

I've known people who adopted minimal lifestyles in terms of how many items they owned.  Not because of money, but because of what you mention, and probably other motivations as well.

We've been coached to seek material wealth as a sign of success.  This urge and group-think probably goes back to the old days when there wasn't enough of anything for anyone.  But we're hardly huddling around bonfires anymore and living in caves.

It may be a distortion introduced by the industrial revolution, particularly mass production of goods.  We were never meant to live this well, and so we find ourselves discontented.

Cheers