Taking A Survey
I am taking a survey to find out how many members of SH+SL=TGL, if any, suffer from disposophobia?
You mean the fear of throwing things away? I used to have it pretty bad. But when I moved here to live with my daughter in Georgia, I had to get rid of a lot of stuff and actually was digusted at how much I had accumulated. I am getting better and better at lightening up. I keep looking at things and thinking, "Am I really ever going to use that ever again? Or is it just going to sit there in a box until someone has to dispose of it after I am gone?"
I was really saddened, after my mother died, when I cleaned out her house (a huge job) and discovered so much really nice stuff that had just sat and deteriorated over the years when someone might have been enjoying it.
I was really saddened, after my mother died, when I cleaned out her house (a huge job) and discovered so much really nice stuff that had just sat and deteriorated over the years when someone might have been enjoying it.
about 1 month ago
When I moved from Indiana to Michigan, I had the huge job to do the majority of the packing and found just how much stuff and junk I had. I was able to give a lot of it away and threw a lot of it away and STILL had way too much. Knowing we were moving into a smaller home was going to be a challenge to find a place for everything. Since we've been here, I have slowly been getting rid of more stuff over the years since we moved here. Trying to keep the "exports" (stuff going out) greater than the "imports" (stuff coming in)! At the very least, what I just bring in things to replace what we just used or throw out or give away. There are times when I just take a week or weekend and clear out a pile of this and a box of that wondering why I'm keeping it for! I'm not where I want to be yet but I'm getting there! There's a chance we may have to move again and I sure don't want that huge job again of trying to wade through all this stuff again. Just keep in mind, the moving vans don't mind. They charge by the weight of all the stuff you pile in there!
about 1 month ago
eecgeorgia, I had the same experience with both my mother & my mother-in-law. They both saved the good stuff for special occasions. So I decided every day is special & I use my good things.
As for "disposophobia", both my husband & I were packrats so I figured, if we wanted to have room to turn around, one of us needed to reform & I did. Still stuff accumulated. The hardest was when we sold our house, gave the family heirlooms to the kids & moved in to an apartment. Deciding what was important enough to move was difficult but a year later when we moved from the apartment onto a 32 foot sailboat & had to get rid of everything but clothes, photos, & a few books - that was hardest of all.
The surprise was how liberating the unloading was. After the initial trauma it was very freeing to have only that which was essential. Fifteen years later we're back to a more conventional life & things are starting to pile up but this time I'm much more selective about what I allow to become permanent. Books and magazines I've read are passed on immediately, for instance. If I haven't worn clothes for a year or so, they go to the thrift store (where I do a lot of my shopping too). A man named Schumacher wrote a book years ago called "Small is Beautiful". It's a good principle to live by.
As for "disposophobia", both my husband & I were packrats so I figured, if we wanted to have room to turn around, one of us needed to reform & I did. Still stuff accumulated. The hardest was when we sold our house, gave the family heirlooms to the kids & moved in to an apartment. Deciding what was important enough to move was difficult but a year later when we moved from the apartment onto a 32 foot sailboat & had to get rid of everything but clothes, photos, & a few books - that was hardest of all.
The surprise was how liberating the unloading was. After the initial trauma it was very freeing to have only that which was essential. Fifteen years later we're back to a more conventional life & things are starting to pile up but this time I'm much more selective about what I allow to become permanent. Books and magazines I've read are passed on immediately, for instance. If I haven't worn clothes for a year or so, they go to the thrift store (where I do a lot of my shopping too). A man named Schumacher wrote a book years ago called "Small is Beautiful". It's a good principle to live by.
about 1 month ago
For many people the only time they dispose of significant amounts of "stuff" is when they move.
73% of the things in a file cabinet are never looked at again. This is pretty consistent with the closets and other "file" type places in the home. When we move in things are assigned a place and that is where they stay until we move out.
People should pretend to move every 5 years. By that I mean, even if you are the tidiest person on the planet, take everything out of a room paint or change the curtains to give it a different feel and put stuff back. What does not go back can be given away.
This keeps down generational clutter (stuff that piled up on the last batch of stuff).
73% of the things in a file cabinet are never looked at again. This is pretty consistent with the closets and other "file" type places in the home. When we move in things are assigned a place and that is where they stay until we move out.
People should pretend to move every 5 years. By that I mean, even if you are the tidiest person on the planet, take everything out of a room paint or change the curtains to give it a different feel and put stuff back. What does not go back can be given away.
This keeps down generational clutter (stuff that piled up on the last batch of stuff).
about 1 month ago
I try to keep my clutter to a minimum and not think that I could need this at some point and keep things I should get rid of. I still have things I don't use. I have had a carpet steamer for more than a year and never plugged it in. My husband though I needed a pressure cooker and it sits in the cabinet never used. I got a bunch of free magazines a while ago and oh boy, I haven't even looked at half of them. Dr Oz has a show about hoarders today (Thursday) and here in Virginia he's on at 3 pm on NBC. I plan to watch that and maybe I can get motivated.
about 1 month ago
Research has been done and there are certain items that people never throw away.
Take pillows as an example. We buy new bed pillows. The old ones are given to a housemate or put on the guest bed. When they are no longer guest worthy they become pet beds. The trail of those pillows continues until they fall apart.
Do you have moveitaroundophobia?
Do you have other items that just move along the chain until they are unrecognizable?
How do you decide the time is right for an item to go for good?
Take pillows as an example. We buy new bed pillows. The old ones are given to a housemate or put on the guest bed. When they are no longer guest worthy they become pet beds. The trail of those pillows continues until they fall apart.
Do you have moveitaroundophobia?
Do you have other items that just move along the chain until they are unrecognizable?
How do you decide the time is right for an item to go for good?
about 1 month ago
I've moved 3 times in the last 5 years and each time was appalled by how much stuff I had amassed since the previous move. Now that I am down to one room and a closet, I am hoping I will finally adapt to less and less. Cloths, towels and blankets seem to be the hardest things for me to let go of.
about 1 month ago
