Yesterday I had a couch day. This is something I rarely do. But my house was clean, the laundry was done, Landon was playing at a friend's house and Tim was glued to the T.V. upstairs. So, I plopped myself down on the couch and watched several back to back episodes of Horders, Buried Alive. Now I gotta tell ya, this show is disturbing! Yet, I couldn't stop watching. I realize that hording (Not being able to throw away anything. Ever.) is a very serious mental illness. I realize that the people living in those homes, in those conditions aren't capable of simply cleaning their houses. It's so much deeper than that. The hording is replacing a void in their lives. I can relate. Sort of. A few years ago, I had a "HUGE" shopping addiction. I would shop til' I dropped and fill the car to the top. It was like blind shopping. There was no rhyme or reason. Just buy it. Of course this insane shopping was because there was a void somewhere in my life, just like the horders. Shopping was doing a poor job of filling it. But when Landon was born, that void was pretty much filled. I no longer had the need or desire to shop to the ends of the earth. I still love shopping and love nothing better than a good deal, but I no longer need to buy anything and everything simply because it's "on sale." I will always love shopping. I am a woman, and like most women, I was born with the shopping gene. Can't help that. But now, I only buy things I truly need or love. I can shop with my eyes open now. I can see much more clearly. It's now a "little" addiction. If there is such a thing. So, what did I do with all my "stuff?" I gave it away. Car loads. To The Boys Ranch, Good Will, Thrift Shops, Family and Friends. It didn't happen overnight either. It took years, and I'm still not done! My goal is to totally simplify my life and home. Getting rid of all the clutter and baggage. Both material and emotional. (They play off of each other.) I want to be able to open any closet, any cupboard and only have things that I use or love dearly. So, I weed. I weed through everything over and over. I go through the same boxes, cupboards and closets over and over. Each time I toss a little more. What I think I can't live without one month, I find I can live without the next. So, I keep weeding. It is a wonderful feeling to let go. To let go of all the "stuff" that was weighing me down. I admit it was a little hard parting with all my "stuff" in the beginning of my "simplifying" project. I felt a lot like the horders who want to keep the dirty paper plates because they might need them someday. But once I got over that hurdle, it was actually very liberating. My next goal is to help Tim simplify his garage. I'm just waiting for him to go out of town for a day or two.
Anybody want to take him somewhere?
