I recently read an article in Time magazine that left me very disturbed. It was about the typical American home and how cluttered it is with–mostly unnecessary–possessions. It was upsetting because, while I know there are people out there that are far worse than I am in terms of hoarding stuff, it made me realize I'm tired of being a hoarder.
Now, it's not like you walk into my house and can't move around because of the clutter. My hoarding is not super obvious, until you start opening up closets–and thank God I don't have many–cabinets and drawers and you start seeing all kinds of stuff that, many times, I didn't even know I had.
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I am, what many like to call in Spanish, a cachivachera–someone who likes to collect all kinds of junk or unnecessary objects. And so, I've been known to save stuff like movies or concert stubs or old magazines that I hope to read some day. My husband has always hated this about me and, for a long time, I told myself that just because it was junk to somebody else didn't really mean it was junk to me. And then I had children, and the situation got even worse.
From old toys to old clothes to every single art project my children have made in their first few years of life, I've been feeling like I'm drowning in crap. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I never throw stuff out, sell it in a garage sale or donate it to some charity; I do that all the time, but I've never done it indiscriminately. In other words, I always have a hard time parting ways with way too much of my junk.
After reading the Time article, I knew the time had come to do something about it. And so, I started with the playroom on Monday and I'm so glad I did. I told my daughter we needed to make room for the new toys she'll surely get on her birthday tomorrow and together we filled up two trash bags and three donation bags. I must say, I went to bed feeling pretty lighthearted Monday night. It's almost as if a weight had been lifted off me.
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Next up, the kids' bedrooms. I can't wait to get started. My plan is to go through every single room in my house–including the garage–and get rid of ALL my cachivaches… wish me luck!
I'm curious, are you a hoarder? Why? Have you done anything to change your ways? Share your thoughts with us by leaving us a comment below.
Image via karindalziel/flickr
