The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
I am finding that more & more I have symptoms of hoarding! I think I mentioned this before a while back. I was going through my disorganized back room this morning looking for my address book & finally found it. But..in the meantime I made matters a lot worse by going through almost everything I could to find the stupid thing. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that I found it because I need the addresses to send Christmas cards.
Yeah, maybe I am getting a jump on Christmas too soon, but then again maybe I am not! I am not very excited this year because I think it might be too quiet & lonely without my family there with me but at least my husband will be there! I think he is enough company for me anyway.
Back to hoarding: I have every intention to get organized & fulfill my need for some kind of order in my life. I have so much stuff I don't even know what I have anymore. Today I am going to organize my totes with stuff that I really need & get rid of some of the stuff that it useless. I kinda already organized my book shelf--I have way too many books on all kinds of subjects including recovery books. I have collected so many books that I may never get to reading all of them. In the meantime, I plan to start reading more to get my brain cells working better.
I found a lot of treasures, too. Like old cards & letters that people have given me over the years: I can't see throwing them away. Plus, I have blank cards without writing in them to send to my most cherished friends. On & on it goes! I will keep you all updated on how much progress I make in the next day or so. Just me Kathleen
There are a number of site that help people who hoard and who are messy. One of them is "messies". I do know there are programs that can help you. This year I got rid of a great deal of stuff, six suitcases of clothes, six suitcases of books, ten huge bags of trash. I am still in the process of decluttering. I sold books and donated them too.
I did it one day at a time. I had one six week plus project where I cleared out an area and now I have a smaller cupboard to clear out. I do know for me its a long term issue.
It's kind of a danger of our affluent, thing-filled society, isn't it? And having many "things" gives one that sense of abundance and possibility -- though just as often they're actually oppressive and burdensome.
There's a guy with a clutter-busting blog I always find soothing:
http://brooks-palmer.blogspot.com/
He talks about how people often think they'll be upset if they let go of some of their things, but it's actually keeping them that weighs them down. I like his psychological approach to it, because we're obviously not just a problem of being organized (FlyLady says "You can't organize clutter") -- I think it's more about fear and possibility and being overwhelmed.
