I hope I can give this story it's proper light because there is so much going on! It's basically a miracle with a whole lot of circular destiny as infinity!
A few days ago, I got a surprise friendly email out of the blue. And as promised a story showed up in a couple of days, I'm so excited to share it with you! It's about the circular beginning of someone's adventure and so much more!
I'm kinda big into circular stories with circular endings because it was a third grade story skill I had to teach and not an easy concept for eight year olds to be able to apply in their own writing. Back then, I was supposed to teach that concept as a writing standard, but they didn't give any story examples to show students and the examples I had didn't help.
Then I saw "Ice-Age", then it became everyone's homework or we watched it as a class, if everyone got parental permission because it's Rated-PG. That movie helped every student I know understand the concept and after that it was a "piece of cake" for them to write clear and fun circular endings. Hmm... maybe I should watch it again and see if it helps me!
In Ice Age, Scrat the Squirrel begins the story burying his acorn which starts a snowball of events and in the end he's burying another acorn and...........back to the topic on hand,
This story is told by an ever traveling student who did not give up or give in to fear or obstacles....and keeps learning along the way!
Hi Kennedy,
Thanks so much for the lovely package! I love the idea of exchanging your things for stories. I'm going to take a few photos of the medal and send my story in a few days, but just wanted to let you know I received it. Thanks, talk to you soon!
Allegra
Hi Kennedy, here are the pics and story (a bit long) as promised!
I'm not very religious, but I like old religious icons, and I've taken a special liking to St. Christopher, since he's the patron saint of travelers, and I've spent a good portion of my adult life traveling. Several years ago, my mom's aunt gave me a St. Christopher's medal in a bag of old jewelry she was getting rid of, and I decided to take it with me on a year-long volunteer trip in Africa. I don't particularly believe that there's any protective power in wearing a St. Christopher's medal, but somehow it still makes me feel a bit better when traveling.
While I was in Africa I started dating another volunteer, and we did a good amount of traveling around to neighboring countries, and we would trade off who wore the St. Christopher. Not too long after we started dating, my then-boyfriend began to show signs of being overly controlling and a bit abusive, which got worse and worse as the year went on. I ended up breaking up with him after he kicked me in anger in front of all of our friends, but things managed to get even worse after breaking up, since we were living together and neither of us had anywhere else to go.
He got even angrier after the breakup, and I ended up having to run away twice and hide for several days while he cooled down. Eventually his behavior got erratic enough that he was asked by our organization to leave the country, and while I was in hiding he was escorted back to our house to pack and then escorted to the airport to fly out. When I got back to the house I found that he had taken the St. Christopher medal with him. Since then I've occasionally tried to find another medal to replace that one.
Fast forward a few years, and I'm now dating a guy that is the polar opposite of my ex - kind, loving, never raises his voice, and he's extremely considerate of my past and my hopes and dreams for the future. Around the time we started dating, I also started applying for masters' programs internationally, and I got accepted into a program in Cape Town, South Africa.
It's been my goal for several years to get my masters', in fact, the only reason I didn't do it immediately after volunteering was because I got too distracted by that unhealthy relationship to get through the application process. It's a bit unfortunate that fulfilling my dream of a masters degree came at the same time as finding the right guy, but luckily, he has been incredibly understanding and we've managed to make the relationship work long distance for the past year. We've got one more year of long-distance before I'm home for good, and he plans to visit sometime during this year.
I've found out some new things about myself, though, in traveling while leaving someone I love at home. I've always loved traveling and haven't usually been overly concerned with my personal safety - I try not to do anything stupid but I also don't like to be fearful, letting those fears hold me back from the things I want to do and see. But since I've been in Cape Town, I've found that a top priority has been my security, entirely because I want to make sure that nothing happens to me so I can go home to my boyfriend again. So I got to thinking about my old St. Christopher, and decided that maybe it's time to replace it. Which led me to your shop :)
I have high hopes for this year, that I will be able to complete my degree like I've wanted to for years, and that I'll be able to travel with my boyfriend and share new experiences with him, and that ultimately I will be able to go home safe and sound. That's a bit of a long story, but I suppose the St. Christopher was a bit more sentimental to me than I realized. Also, the medal you sent me is a St. Christopher/St. Anthony medal. I didn't know who St. Anthony was till I just went to look it up, and found out that he is the patron saint of lost things. Which is a bit ironic I suppose, seeing as how I bought the St. Christopher to replace one that was lost :)
By the way, I love the idea of dealing with hoarding by replacing your things with stories and pictures. My Mom has always had a bit of a problem with hoarding, so I've seen how hard it can be to let go of things sometimes. I think yours is a brilliant idea, though, and I hope that you are successful with it! I suppose it's a bit of an ongoing process though.
I've attached a few pictures - of the medal on the plane and in front of Table Mountain here in Cape Town, traveling as it was intended :) Also, a picture of the other objects I added to the necklace for the trip - a raccoon pendant that I've worn for years, and two wood rings that my boyfriend made for me before I left.
Thanks for sharing your process, and best of luck to you!
Is that a story or is that a story? If you can imagine this story actually gets better because most of the time, I'm the one who gets helped out as a recovering hoarder, but in this case I helped out a little too!
As you can imagine, I was so excited and couldn't contain myself and wrote back immediately with blurts!
January 31 2013 3:06pm EDT
Hi again!
Yes, I do too have experienced over and over the sentimentality of things as I write them and often times, do not even know where my writing about my hoard will take me, like I thought I was going to have good memories from the scent of Cartier perfume, but only had challenging ones from an ex-bf that just wanted to change me and later treated me like a piece of furniture. I can laugh about it now, but back then...
Thank you for allowing me to use your story "as is" and thank you for reminding me to change your name due to past history. I'll leave out or leave in whatever you would like to protect your identity. I will be super careful and cautious because I have been stocked from a bad relationship also and it's scary, in more ways than one.
I'm glad part of my story helped you too! That's got to be the best part of losing my precious hoard then!
That's too cool, urban planning! My ultimate dream is to live in an Earthship designed by Michael Reynolds, built either by him or me and my bf. Have you heard of him?
I will link your bf's etsy shop to your/our story... I thought they looked familiar, he's got his own style and talent!
Thank you for the compliment on my living room, now if I can just keep it looking like that and transform the rest of the house to be "that" minimalist organic one of my dreams will have come true!
Thank you this is the kind of experience I need and thank you for the support and encouragement to keep on dehoarding!
Warmest regards,
~Kennedy
Saying Good-bye: If my hoard is bringing this much joy or any amount of joy to others then I can reasonably say that all my hoarding is worth it and maybe through it all it has some unknown purpose with purpose!
And maybe this will be the last time I hoard because I can see there is so much joy outside myself and my things and I'm getting little glimpses of how non-hoarders function!
Yes, I do too have experienced over and over the sentimentality of things as I write them and often times, do not even know where my writing about my hoard will take me, like I thought I was going to have good memories from the scent of Cartier perfume, but only had challenging ones from an ex-bf that just wanted to change me and later treated me like a piece of furniture. I can laugh about it now, but back then...
Thank you for allowing me to use your story "as is" and thank you for reminding me to change your name due to past history. I'll leave out or leave in whatever you would like to protect your identity. I will be super careful and cautious because I have been stocked from a bad relationship also and it's scary, in more ways than one.
I'm glad part of my story helped you too! That's got to be the best part of losing my precious hoard then!
That's too cool, urban planning! My ultimate dream is to live in an Earthship designed by Michael Reynolds, built either by him or me and my bf. Have you heard of him?
I will link your bf's etsy shop to your/our story... I thought they looked familiar, he's got his own style and talent!
Thank you for the compliment on my living room, now if I can just keep it looking like that and transform the rest of the house to be "that" minimalist organic one of my dreams will have come true!
Thank you this is the kind of experience I need and thank you for the support and encouragement to keep on dehoarding!
Warmest regards,
~Kennedy
St Anthony is venerated all over the world as the Patron Saint for lost
articles, and is credited with many miracles involving lost people, lost
things and even lost spiritual goods.
Saying Good-bye: If my hoard is bringing this much joy or any amount of joy to others then I can reasonably say that all my hoarding is worth it and maybe through it all it has some unknown purpose with purpose!
And maybe this will be the last time I hoard because I can see there is so much joy outside myself and my things and I'm getting little glimpses of how non-hoarders function!
Leaving the US to fulfill a life long dream!
In good company! Better than I could ever imagine and way better off than in my box of hoard!
On to one of it's many beginnings!
What I Learned:
1. Letting go is getting easier, so I thank the 90 etsyians from VintageToGoetsy, 81 from HoarderRehab and 21 from The Destiny of Things for helping me practice letting go of 192 items of my hoarder history! And, as a recovering hoarder making most days easier
for me as you help me bring me closer to my dream of a Minimalist
Organic home with a music art room, instead of boxed hoard storage!
It's
been an uphill and downhill battle with several casualties, but I've
made it this far and thanks to other people's random acts of kindness
I'm making it through my fears, obstacles and seeing the light into a
non-hoarding life. It may be slow, but as I found during my Meltdown, Confucius said, "It doesn't not matter how slowly I go as long as I do not stop"
2. Many people don't think they have a story, but for me as a recovering hoarder and even though I think it's odd and I'm sure they think it's more odd, a little info goes a long way for me. And maybe even though people are taking the time to send me these random acts of kindness to help me, maybe in some small way I am helping them. I realized that when Allegra wrote me saying I helped her see her story in a different light.
I felt so happy and it brings tears of joy to my eyes knowing I helped someone in a small way! especially when everyone else is helping me in such big ways!
Here's what I say to myself when I'm feeling small and for others who think they don't have a story for me:
I know I tend to make a mosquito into mountain or mole hill into a mountain, but I get so excited and happy that it just all gets beyond myself! Yes, and I know.... I know... I don't know when to stop either, one thought leads to another, until they fork off endlessly, but I'm hoping that's part of my hoarding ways and will get better as my hoard lessens. All I can do now is accept it and hope for the best and work on it as best I can.
So with that I should end it here! Thank you etsy for making my life easier and better by giving me an outlet for my hoard and with it so many kind people to help me in their own ways!
Thank you Allegra for taking the time to write me about your story and including pics along the way to your new journey! I hope the St. Christopher/St. Anthony helps to bring you home to your boy-friend for more traveling adventures and helps you recover whatever you want to find again.
I don't know if you ever watched, Amelie, she's kinda like Ally McBeal but with a plan and helps others with random acts of kindness just to brighten their days. In one incident of many, she steals her Dad's garden gnome because he's always wanted to travel around the world, but doesn't and has her flight attendant friend take pictures of it at landmarks and mails them to him!
As soon as I saw the pictures from Allegra I felt indescribable joy which I think is how Amelie's Dad felt every time he got a picture of his gnome. Allegra's pictures gave me new meaning of St.Christopher/St. Anthony medal's beginning, middle and end, which is really just another beginning! Which ran parallel to her story!!! May destiny as infinity always be yours, mine and everyones!
Thank you visitors from Romania, US, Malaysia, Poland, South Africa and Ukraine for joining me in today's happy adventures of HoarderRehab: The Destiny of Things!
What significant parts of your life are circular? I can say my hoard, but I see it more as a downward spiraling out of control viscous cycle, but this time it's going to tail-spin into a better circular ending thanks to all who have joined me on this adventure!
Post Thoughts: I've been debating whether or not I should publish
daily. I like to post daily because it keeps me focused on my
HoarderRehab, but as a writer it just takes me so dang long to write and
I'm hopelessly adding on, instead of revising and proofreading! Also, I
don't want to start building up a bunch of backdrafts. I guess I'm a
hoarder of words and thoughts and I can only hope it gets better as I
dehoard, literally and figuaratively.
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