BLOGWORDS – Friday 31 March 2023 – SPECIAL EDITION – THE PURGE – CONFESSIONS of a BORDERLINE HOARDER
SPECIAL EDITION – THE PURGE – CONFESSIONS of a BORDERLINE HOARDER
If you’ve wondered why I’ve been quasi-MIA in recent weeks, read on…
“I’m an artist,” I said. “I can use it.” And I could use it. Potentially, eventually, maybe one day…
“It’s a keepsake,” I said. “It has special meaning.” And it did. Once upon a time.
But ten, twenty years—FORTY YEARS—later it’s just collecting dust. I mean ALL the research from eight novels?!?!?!? WHYYYY???? Research papers from 4 years of college—and some from high school, which was more than a few years ago. Although I pared this down a few years ago, I still had an absurd number of my kids’ school papers; I saved only the best and put them in an album.
How many paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls does a person need? Stashed away, I mean. ‘Cause there’s ALWAYS more where those come from, right? Miscellaneous printer paper, plain and with designs—reams of it gone! And yes, I had literally reams of paper stashed away for eventually…
And boxes! Oh Dear Lord, WHYYYY???? To store more junk? Plastic containers, too. ‘Cause I might “need” them someday. Gone. All gone. Well, except the nicest boxes to use for gifts. Styrofoam containers (which I thought was a step up from corrugated cardboard) all tossed. Random packing paper and bubble wrap. No longer in da house.
I don’t have a before pic of the closet but it was JAMMED with boxes and bags of stuff.
The hardest to part with were the stuffed animals. Teddy and Dolly and Bunny were my mother’s. I had them safely tucked away until I could create a display in an old timey pram. (Where, I ask you, would I even put it in my small house?) I kept only Thomas Tigger the Tiger (I was little and apparently named him twice) and tucked the other lovies in a garbage bag (that’s even hard to write) but I could not bring myself to put it in the trash; I had to have my son do that for me.
Even with “the goods” stashed and stacked in plastic bins, it was absurd. While it appears tidy, there lurks unknown miscellany. The bin with the red lid, however, housed my Christmas tin collection. Dating back to 1993, I have not kept it up the past few years. Nor do I have space to display them anymore. As with the aforementioned lovies, I kept one. Unlike the aforementioned lovies, the remaining tins are in a box for Goodwill.
There are several reasons I’ve held onto so much for so long. I’m an artist. I could literally make art out of anything. I’m sentimental. Too much so, apparently. I’ve never had a budget with “cushion” to replace something if I need it after I throw it out. And, honestly, though not technically inherited, it has run through generations.
And it STOPS here!
Oh, there’s still plenty of “stuff” here—my paints and canvases, scrapbooking materials, and GOBS of photos. Photos of ancestors, photos that I will catalog and IDENTIFY, and save in scrapbooks.
This isn’t the first purge I’ve attempted; but it is the most thorough. And it’s taken me a month to do it. I neglected to get a picture but I was appalled and disgusted at the MOUNTAIN we set out for trash pick-up that first week. The third week was slightly less but still a ridiculous amount of trash.
And that’s not counting the number of boxes are going to or have already gone to Goodwill. Or the treasures I’ve shared with family and friends. Like that purple Angry Bird on top. Couple of Care Bears, too, that went to my neighbor’s kiddos. I decorated that Christmas-looking box for my Christmas decorations. There were 2 other similar boxes, plus the bin with the tins. That bin now holds what decorations I’m keeping; the other 2 boxes are gone.
I was more intent on getting the project done than capturing images, but I did snap a few, which I now share for you gawking enjoyment.
While I’ve been poking around with this deep clean for years, I really was just piddling at it. Made precious little progress. Current circumstances, however, gave greater urgency, and now I can say the worst is done. Art is messy. But that doesn’t mean my house has to be.
BONUS: The sense of accomplishment and that feeling of release when I toss something I previously would have stashed away.
Now, back to writing…..
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