Here are some of mine:
Picture Frames
And these are the ones NOT currently being used. (I have a ton more on the walls and shelves of my home).
Shoes
And those are just half of the shoes I own. (many more in the closet and a roll away tote under the bed). Yes, I am a self confessed shoe fanatic.
Apparently I also collect unmatched socks?
At last count, there were 72 unmatched socks.
Yeah... don't ask.
I have several very used old candles:
I can't seem to throw away old makeup:
And have an attraction to containers.
I heard once that hoarders like to collect containers to store things in. "I don't believe I do that." I thought to myself. WRONG. As I looked around I found that I do in fact seem to collect containers! Like storage totes, and
Canisters & Jars:
Some might call me a basket case:
And those are just the ones NOT filled with stuff. I have baskets all throughout my home. They hold video's in our entertainment center:
I have baskets in A's room for her pretty little things:
And on the shelves in N's room for his toys:
I have a basket by the door for hats and gloves:
And baskets on the stairs for things that need to be put away:
And it's empty! (so proud) I see that one toy didn't make it to its intended destination though.
I collect journals:
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And I use them all too! I have a gardening journal, a mothering journal for each of the kids, a 'Thankful' journal, a 'lessons learned' journal, a spiritual journal, a poetry journal, a marriage journal, a home decorating and improvement journal... well, you get the idea. :)
I also hold onto all of my old journals:
I have to include stuffed animals in this list of collections. Here is why:
Care to play "I Spy" anyone? I spied at least five Elmo's. And maybe four Cookie Monster's? Several stuffed animals missing limbs or tails and one that was even missing it's head!
Sure, those need to go! But what do I do with the cute novelty ones? How could I get rid of the ones that MEAN something?
I spy a pirate:
I spy a stuffed home made monster (made by my son and I when he was 3):
I spy a pound puppy named Clarence that I have had since I was a child and named after my now deceased Grandfather:
I spy my favorite child hood toy, a bear named Bubbles, who is sitting next to N's stuffed bear sheriff made with love by his "Mom-Mom":
I spy my son's beloved tiger that he called a "Lanoo" as an infant (His baby talk for lion):
I don't want to sound cavalier or as if I am proud of these collections. I'm not. I will admit that I'm not as bothered by my excess as you might be, but I do acknowledge that it's a problem.
I don't know how ready I am to actually get rid of some of it (or all of it). The socks might seem to be the most obvious choice. But as I stare at the row of unmatched socks I can only think, "Wait. Didn't I see that mate under a bed somewhere?" and then back into the sock bag it goes.
I have so many more 'collections' that it would need a separate blog post to list them all. Maybe another day.
sigh...
On and on it goes.
Have a good weekend, everyone.
Unintentionally collecting,
Julie
Lots of stuff, but you seem to do a great job containing it! Such pretty baskets!
ReplyDeleteI have just discovered your blog, and am amazed by your honesty. I think of myself as a "messy neatnik" or a "neat slob" - I *like* neatness and order, but I have to force myself to create and maintain it, because, cleaning? Is boring. So I think I have some ideas to share that might be helpful.
ReplyDeleteI have found that the only way for me to keep up with the chaos is by having systems. The system is black and white and clearly tells me what action I need to take. For example, loose socks that are missing mates(or other items that have to have both pieces to work, like food containers) get put in a bin. Every other month or so, I dump out the bin and match up any sock pairs that migrated into the bin. Singletons at that point get dumped, unless we have multiple pairs of the same socks and might get used. That way, there's no second guessing myself.
The key is to have a cutoff point and be ruthless about it. I do a lot of self-talk. For example, looking at a pile of socks, I could see myself starting to think, "well, I might find the matches someday..." In this situation, my self-talk goes like this:
HAVE YOU FOUND THE MATCHING SOCK YET? No.
DO YOU HAVE OTHER SOCKS TO WEAR? Yes.
IS THIS HARD/VERY EXPENSIVE TO REPLACE? No.
IS IT WORTH THIS MUCH TIME AND EFFORT? No.
---> TRASH! (or Goodwill, etc.)
With the items you do feel attached to, like stuffed animals, I'd keep the handmade one your son made and your ONE toy from your childhood, but the rest of them seem to be overwhelming your house. Have you thought about making a photo album/scrapbook of pictures with them, and then giving them away to Goodwill or a thrift store? They will bring someone else joy, make a profit for a good cause, and free up room and energy in your life. A scrapbook takes up a lot less room, and if you write up the stories behind them, your sons will love reading through them. Look at it this way: The TOY doesn't mean anything... it's the STORY that you care about. So, can you capture the story and let go of the toy?
I hope this is helpful. If it's not, feel free to ignore it.
Dear Anonymous, Thank you so much for your advice. I am ashamed to admit that since this post, I STILL have a ton of unmatched socks. I will definitely try to purge that soon. As to the stuffed animals, they are weaned down to a precious few. Many went to the curb. 3 garbage bags were donated. We kept only favorites. It was a little hard to part with at first, but it freed up space in my children's rooms. I do think the answer lies in having a cut off point and rules that I am ruthless about. I have to stick with it no matter what or I will find myself right back where I started. Thanks again for the advice! :) - Julie (from under the pile)
ReplyDeleteJulie I'm simply thrilled to have discovered your blog. I'm relating to many things you've mentioned and look forward to getting to know you. Yes, I'm a hoarder too and just admitted it to myself about 6 weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you Anonymous for your suggestions of holding on to stray socks for a month and if the other one isn't found ... out go the odd ones! So simple and easiest enough I can do this! lol
I'm definetly going to start photographying all the stuff animals in our house and scrapbook the stories behind them. This is especially appealing to a scrapbooker like me. Just wish I'd thought of it when the kids were younger, but I shall proceed in the easiest way now by documenting all our "special friends". I can use my grandchildren in pictures of the animals that currently love and make a book for each of then.
Thank you both,
Karen
Thanks to both you for offering such easy suggestions.