I've been giving my room a bit of a "spring clean" recently (strangely enough, it is, in fact winter in the southern Hemisphere - though this is entirely beside the point).
What I found was a collection of paper-goods too big to be considered 'normal' (whatever that is). My room (/study) was an absolute mess. I hadn't unpacked from our move around six months before, and one could barely move. There were two boxes stacked in the centre, overflowing with 'stuff', which seemed to spill outward. Now that I think of it, one could say it was a volcanic eruption of clothes, paper, and other random items. Needless to say, I had procrastinated cleaning it, or rather, unpacking and sorting it (I had tried before a few times, but the attempts were ultimately futile).
I then happened upon this site:
(www) .ocfoundation.org
and then, this page:
(www) .ocfoundation.org/hoarding
(Sorry, my post-count doesn't allow for linking yet)
What I came across, was the fact I may be a Hoarder, clinically.
This came as a relief.
I do have problems with categorisation;
I do procrastinate horribly (I crown myself King of Procrastination - in fact, I am at the moment procrastinating the completion of my room, and the dish-washing);
I collect mass amounts of pamphlets/free magazines/newspapers under the guise of 'inspiration givers'/'pictures I can collage in the future;
and have a few childhood books I refuse to give away, due to my thoughts that children’s’ books won't match the standards of these others when I eventually have kids/grandkids of my own (a view which I find semi-reasonable).
Since such a revelation, I have been able (in my holidays) to be almost ruthless with my belongings, and now have a room capable of living in (actually, now I think of it, I'm sad I did not take before and after photos). I've even been able to eliminate boxes that laid outside of my room, which also held my belongings.
I must say: I still have books I may never read, and I have a lot of concept art for projects that may never be realised (or worked on), and I keep all my previous art books, and scribblings - even from when I was a crap drawer... I found it hard to throw away the few drawings that I did. I only managed to dramatically reduce the pile of 'influential' images and articles, cutting them from the magazines & flyers, and storing in a shoebox marked 'Inspirations'; and I don't think I'll ever throw away the novelty sized paper-mache peanut-phone I found a while back, which, as I type, is laying on the floor on the other side of the room.
Now, as I haven't been clinically tested, I won't lay claim to the fact that I am a Hoarder - only that it is a possibility I have a mild case heaped on top of my mild OCD. When I have the resources, I may... if I don't procrastinate about it.
What I find incredible, is where the Lord leads us, and how He works.
When I found this board in this forum a while ago (I usually avoid "Christian" sites due to certain clichés that annoy me), I have found that my OCD affects me more than I realised - and counts for a few of my strange habits and thoughts. I now know my hoarding problems may also be a simple matter of chemical imbalance, and there is a way to recovery - I don't need to end my life living in a house overrun by newspapers and brochures.
I don't even know why I'm posting this... I guess we all need somewhere to share - and I hope this stimulates some form of discussion.
Godspeed,
-Th3o.
What I found was a collection of paper-goods too big to be considered 'normal' (whatever that is). My room (/study) was an absolute mess. I hadn't unpacked from our move around six months before, and one could barely move. There were two boxes stacked in the centre, overflowing with 'stuff', which seemed to spill outward. Now that I think of it, one could say it was a volcanic eruption of clothes, paper, and other random items. Needless to say, I had procrastinated cleaning it, or rather, unpacking and sorting it (I had tried before a few times, but the attempts were ultimately futile).
I then happened upon this site:
(www) .ocfoundation.org
and then, this page:
(www) .ocfoundation.org/hoarding
(Sorry, my post-count doesn't allow for linking yet)
What I came across, was the fact I may be a Hoarder, clinically.
This came as a relief.
I do have problems with categorisation;
I do procrastinate horribly (I crown myself King of Procrastination - in fact, I am at the moment procrastinating the completion of my room, and the dish-washing);
I collect mass amounts of pamphlets/free magazines/newspapers under the guise of 'inspiration givers'/'pictures I can collage in the future;
and have a few childhood books I refuse to give away, due to my thoughts that children’s’ books won't match the standards of these others when I eventually have kids/grandkids of my own (a view which I find semi-reasonable).
Since such a revelation, I have been able (in my holidays) to be almost ruthless with my belongings, and now have a room capable of living in (actually, now I think of it, I'm sad I did not take before and after photos). I've even been able to eliminate boxes that laid outside of my room, which also held my belongings.
I must say: I still have books I may never read, and I have a lot of concept art for projects that may never be realised (or worked on), and I keep all my previous art books, and scribblings - even from when I was a crap drawer... I found it hard to throw away the few drawings that I did. I only managed to dramatically reduce the pile of 'influential' images and articles, cutting them from the magazines & flyers, and storing in a shoebox marked 'Inspirations'; and I don't think I'll ever throw away the novelty sized paper-mache peanut-phone I found a while back, which, as I type, is laying on the floor on the other side of the room.
Now, as I haven't been clinically tested, I won't lay claim to the fact that I am a Hoarder - only that it is a possibility I have a mild case heaped on top of my mild OCD. When I have the resources, I may... if I don't procrastinate about it.
What I find incredible, is where the Lord leads us, and how He works.
When I found this board in this forum a while ago (I usually avoid "Christian" sites due to certain clichés that annoy me), I have found that my OCD affects me more than I realised - and counts for a few of my strange habits and thoughts. I now know my hoarding problems may also be a simple matter of chemical imbalance, and there is a way to recovery - I don't need to end my life living in a house overrun by newspapers and brochures.
I don't even know why I'm posting this... I guess we all need somewhere to share - and I hope this stimulates some form of discussion.
Godspeed,
-Th3o.
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