DeCluttering: Inspiration, Success Stories, Tips

[Portia]

Bones, I've refused to buy a wee shredder several times because ...it would be...just more...CLUTTER! I use a 'personal digital shredder' and mix things like scraps of credit card numbers with stuff like chicken fat which all goes (c/o the recycling people) into an anaerobic digestion unit.

But on hoarding, I do know someone who keeps things like packaging 'just in case' and keeps what a normie may consider to be 'too many' of said items. A family member did this too. When I've seen 20+ of the same item (say, a foil tart tray) stacked high....I must admit to thinking "this is indicating a real problem". I leave 'em to it though. It's a tough one to deal with and it ain't my job, unless it's my space!

[BonesMS]

Bones, I've refused to buy a wee shredder several times because ...it would be...just more...CLUTTER! I use a 'personal digital shredder' and mix things like scraps of credit card numbers with stuff like chicken fat which all goes (c/o the recycling people) into an anaerobic digestion unit.

But on hoarding, I do know someone who keeps things like packaging 'just in case' and keeps what a normie may consider to be 'too many' of said items. A family member did this too. When I've seen 20+ of the same item (say, a foil tart tray) stacked high....I must admit to thinking "this is indicating a real problem". I leave 'em to it though. It's a tough one to deal with and it ain't my job, unless it's my space!

I understand, Portia.  At the same time, I also understand how "resourceful" crooks can be in getting your credit card numbers and they don't care how GROSS the garbage is!  (That's how greedy they are....they are also N's, IMHO, with this attitude of:  "You have what I want so I'll just TAKE IT!)  I also get it with the 20+ of the same item.  A few years ago, a friend's home got flooded and EVERYTHING in her basement had to get tossed because of flood contamination.  I lost count of how many items I found that were duplicates, NEVER used, still in their packages.  Even though the owner has Alzheimer's, she threw a FIT because we were throwing out HER STUFF!  She couldn't understand that since all this stuff had been contaminated with raw sewage, it had become a bio and health hazard!  It was NOT a comfortable scenario!

Bones

[Portia]

Not good Bones, you doing the helpful thing and havng to deal with someone's lack of understanding in a  situation like that. Well you know you were a hero right? Many people might be more reticent!

We had a spate of people raiding bins in our town - and they got away with a fine amount of credit card theft. They targeted some expensive new 'commuter' flats (they come with a communal gym and pool i think). And I thought of the 'victims': so you're living in a quite a posh development and yet you chucked out papers containing personal details and made it fairly easy for someone to nick your money.

It's fish in the sea - swim on the outside and don't look out for predators and you get eaten. Stay in the middle norm, don't make yourself stand out and take reasonable precautions with your stuff and you stand a better chance of not being ripped off. But also see the threat realistically. If you have a real problem with people going through your bins, maybe there's a case for burning stuff. Do you know of anyone in your area who's suffered from this type of theft?

[BonesMS]

Not good Bones, you doing the helpful thing and havng to deal with someone's lack of understanding in a  situation like that. Well you know you were a hero right? Many people might be more reticent!

We had a spate of people raiding bins in our town - and they got away with a fine amount of credit card theft. They targeted some expensive new 'commuter' flats (they come with a communal gym and pool i think). And I thought of the 'victims': so you're living in a quite a posh development and yet you chucked out papers containing personal details and made it fairly easy for someone to nick your money.

It's fish in the sea - swim on the outside and don't look out for predators and you get eaten. Stay in the middle norm, don't make yourself stand out and take reasonable precautions with your stuff and you stand a better chance of not being ripped off. But also see the threat realistically. If you have a real problem with people going through your bins, maybe there's a case for burning stuff. Do you know of anyone in your area who's suffered from this type of theft?

There's been this type of theft in my area as a result of dumpster-diving.  That's why my community has a Community Shred Day twice a year as one of the ways to fight crime.  I just wish they had it monthly instead of only twice a year but I guess whoever sponsors it doesn't have that kind of budget to pay a commercial shredder to come every month.

Thanks for the compliment regarding the flood situation.  Wading into that muck, wearing a bio-suit, wasn't my idea of fun and, at the same time, it had to get taken care of ASAP.

Bones

[Meh]

I threw away some art papers, books that are just sitting on a shelf, paperwork that I don't need. I threw away less then favorite paintings. I feel ok about it I think, I don't miss the stuff. I think part of the problem is simply that on a daily basis, Little by little stuff migrates in. Rather then things migrating out regularly.

It's really a relief to let go of old stuff. I have ideas that go along with it, so when I throw out the old stuff I'm throwing away ideas in a way. Even throwing out "hopes".

[Hopalong]

Thanks for sharing that glimpse Helen.

I like the notion of papers returning to pulp...

I wonder if it would help me to ritualize decluttering a little.

Make it like toothbrushing.

xo
Hops

[BonesMS]

It feels like the faster I shred the junk mail, the faster it pours into my mailbox!   

Bones

[teartracks]

I know one clutterbug.  This person collects good quality decorative objects.  On entering this person's home, you get the sense that there are at least a thousand unfinished projects, most built on a theme of some kind like say chalk figurines or blue pottery.  Therefore, the beauty of the collected objects gets lost in their having become  plain old clutter.  In talking with this person, I get a very strong sense of resistance to acknowledging the seriousness of the situlation.  Also, a clear attitude from the person which says don't visit my home if you don't like what you see.   I happened to have known  the great aunt (in her late life), who was not known to the person I'm talking about here.  The great aunt's home was so full of clutter that there were only 'rat trails' from room to room.  Based on this observation, I'm inclined to believe that there is a genetic bent present in the clutter thing.  Also, observation tells me that ADHD and/or OC may be a layer of the cluttering behavioral onion.  In the situation I'm talking about, the person also has several cats.  The house seems to belong to the cats more than the person.  Don't know how this all plays together.  I'm jsut thinking out loud.

tt




  

[Hopalong]

TT...defnitely genetic predisposition.

Bones...this will help:

https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/static/privacy_policy.jsp

xo
Hops

[Portia]

TT, Hops

genetic? In that case my home should be an absolute pigsty - but it's not.

[Hopalong]

Hey Portia, this may be interesting:

http://assets0.pubget.com/pdf/18297419.pdf

(I don't understand the technical parts but scan the article for English...there's a lot I can grasp about the environmental triggers for OCD, hoarding, other anxiety issues...)

compulsively,
Hops

[Portia]

Thanks Hops. Interesting a possible link between 'the strep' and onset OCD.

[BonesMS]

TT...defnitely genetic predisposition.

Bones...this will help:

https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/static/privacy_policy.jsp

xo
Hops

Thanks, Hops.

Bones

[sKePTiKal]

Hey all... I WONDER:

how much "objectifying" has to do, with a predisposition to collect clutter??

and might it involve a passive-aggressive attempt to "control" or be top dog in an emotional power struggle????? Perhaps even an inner one? Or a way to "force" acceptance of self on others - "love me, love my clutter" - in a living situation????

I wonder.

As far as I can tell - everyone has clutter. Somewhere - either visible or hidden. Once, when looking at this house, I did notice that the previous owner had organized so completely, that there was a labelled shoebox for "open snacks" in the cupboard. That's a bit extreme in the OTHER direction, methinks...

Garden variety clutter happens when things aren't "put away" where they belong. Maybe they don't have place where they belong; maybe life & fun or work & kids or friends or exercise or a thousand other possible things distracted one long enough that one "forgot" to put things away. Or it a was a project: and materials & tools were left out because life called one away to something else. Or one just doesn't find filing a stimulating way to spend time! It's not shameful; it doesn't need a self-help book; there's nothing wrong with the person who has this kind of "clutter" in their lives, you know?

Yes, I know there are extremes - and I sometimes feel I've been fighting my whole life against those! But don't you think, that just like societal pressure to be thin, fit, and barbie-doll attractive... we're being programmed to "expect" our living spaces to be so clean, attractive & neat that it looks as if no one lives there????  I wonder.

I also wonder how much our "stuff" enables - in a passive-aggressive way - one to claim space; express oneself; allow oneself to dream or anticipate or force acceptance of oneself - "just as one is" - on others; or to substitute sentimentality in objects for real relationships; real life. As if "stuff" is some cosmic by-product of being who we are.... and some of us take more or less responsibility for the impact of our stuff on others... and some are simply oblivious to it.

My own quirk that way, is having "stuff" - just in case: what if the power goes out? I have a propane camp stove/oven... just in case I get the urge to bake something (????????) I have a shelf full of herbs/spices for ethnic food that I only cook occasionally. I have several boxes full of first aid "stuff" - tho' I haven't yet bought the back country suture kit!!    And I will only say that for 20 years I have dedicated storage space to art & sewing "stuff" - some of it still unwrapped - that I "might" use.... someday. And I've even put together baskets/jars of "stuff" in my guest rooms.... in case someone forgets toothpaste, needs an aspirin, etc.

I have been so primed and groomed to be self-sufficient, it's rediculous, in it's own way... Walmart is a mile from my house.

[Portia]

Laughing out loud Amber. Very funny!

a labelled shoebox for "open snacks" in the cupboard - nooooo! No! Did you take a picture? Can we see it please?! Maybe I shouldn't laugh. <laughs anyway>

Practical stuff (candles) logical stuff (my recycling habits) stuff to fire imagination (art products, visual books) memories (my half sovereign from WW1) is all good stuff. However I opened a box last night and saw something that I intend to junk because it has none of those values.

to substitute sentimentality in objects for real relationships - well yes, especially by those who treat everything as an object....hmmmm...how do they know the difference between something alive and something inanimate? Oh yes,the alive thing moves about....

I live a mile from my 'walmart' but I'm prepared for when they run out of food! (except I haven't learned self-defence yet).