I'm finally brave enough and safe enough to show a pic of my hoard!
Yep, that's it---taking up an entire bedroom and guess what? In "real life" this room doesn't look THAT bad to me and I go in there everyday, but it looks "B - A - D" to me in this photo! So as a hoarder, what does that say about my perception?
Plus about once a month it gets semi-organized and by the end of the month, it ends up like the photo!
On the bright side, it's my soon-to-be music art room! It's going to be organized by the end of this month, at least enough so to get some shelving in there by April. And by May have at least two tables in there- one for mr. oz's music and one for my art.
Quickly moving on to my shipping area.....
Yikes! That's my shipping area? Pictures do speak a thousand more words, more than seeing it daily in my real life!
I pass by this area at least 10 times a day and it again certainly looks much worse in the picture than when I see it daily. Why is that?
This is the nook and cranny next to the Stairway tansu, it's 7 1/2 feet by 45 inches and is twice the space of my clothes closet. It's full from the floor to the ceiling with unbreakables that are boxed and ready to be freed into their new homes and lives!
All the breakables are housed in the stairway tansu. Side note: take a pic of the stairway tansu this weekend.
What I Learned:
1. As a hoarder, there is definitely something amiss with my perception of space and how my hoard looks to me! Looking and working in that room doesn't effect me, but seeing it as a photo has an affect on me! I'm not sure if the word, I want is "effect" or "affect" in this case, but either way "something needs" to change!
I can't imagine how the room must have looked in May, when it had two rows of boxes lined up against that one wall to the ceiling! As of today, there are 211 less items in that room gone to new homes and better lives!
It certainly doesn't look like much progress has been going on! But I know I've made some progress, since there's less chances of snagging on a box or two from front forward movement, instead of side stepping around! Also, there's enough room to vacuum in there now!
2. What an eye opener to being more diligent about spending at least 15 min. a day organizing the music art room! I think I'll take a pic of it every week and post it weekly or so as a motivating factor to spend more time in there!
3. It's the coldest room in the house, as cold as a meat locker and I've haven't been in there much lately. It'll be some incentive to find a plug and be able to fit a heater in there to spend more time organizing! Let's see how much better that room will look next week! Only time will tell!
4. I found this Test for Hoarding, at the International OCD Foundation here
So I'm not too confident with my perception as a hoarder, but I'd say that my hoarded - soon-to-be music art room is between a level 6 or 7, leaning heavily towards a level 7.
At one time, it was close to level 9, but I had it all stacked in a "U" shape, so there has always been some side stepping mobility, but finding and knowing where things were was not possible, however now it is possible, but time consuming.
Now there is no danger of shifting objects smothering and only slight safety risks of something falling, it is still not a suitable living space, so I am in the serious to severe hoard range! Yikes!
It takes extreme effort on my part to keep the rest of the house a level 0-1, as shown in the picture from my "Welcome" page.
5. How do I feel about posting a picture of my hoard? I feel ambivalent at the moment, but since it seems that posting my words helps me to keep them, I will try it and see if it helps me to end my hoarding ways!
Lastly, my goal is to end my hoarding ways once and for all. Hoarding for me is like dieting, I lose it eventually, but in the end gain it all back, sometimes ten fold! Is it possible to end my hoarding cycles? or will I forever be like an alcoholic just keeping it at bay, one day at a time?
Whatever it takes, I'm game this time! Be it, "one day at a time" or a battle to the death of one of us! ha!
On that note, I will go sit quietly and rejuvenate my batteries for tomorrow's path of least resistance for my HoarderRehab adventure of The Destiny of Things!
Thank you US, UK, Germany, Montenegro, Australia, New Zealand and Philippines for stopping by and supporting my mysterious, yet eye opening adventure today! I feel safe in this non judgmental hoarding arena! Thank you for that!
Post Thoughts: What's the difference between hoarding and collecting to me? Collecting is pleasurable and will bring me joy even when cleaning and maintaining it. To me, hoarding is an ongoing huge obstacle keeping me from doing what I really love to do and is a related health problem to my body, mind and spirit.
What is the difference between hoarding and collecting to you?
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