It's not hard for a collector to approach hoarding territory.
Go through your collection and keep the stuff you enjoy and admire.
Hoarders.
That is one interesting television show. One of the reasons I watch it is to prevent me from ever becoming one. A hoarder, not a television show.
Although, I wouldn’t mind hosting another one — a television show, that is.
It’s not that hard for "collectors" to suddenly find ourselves on the slippery slope and realize that rather than a collection to sit back, enjoy and admire, all we have is clutter.
The main problem is you can only see the front line of treasures, the rest of the stuff being buried and often remaining out of sight for YEARS! So why have it?
Spurred on by that realization, I stopped in front of my office/library area downstairs a few days ago, and actually took the time to let it sink in that it was one big cluttered mess.
Y’see, a few months ago I started hauling stuff that hadn’t been moved for years out of basement storage spaces, off shelves, etc. First, I spread it out around the rec room, or whatever it’s called these days. Then, as space was needed for people to use, stuffed a lot of it back in the office/library area. Too clogged to tiptoe through without tripping.
UNACCEPTABLE! So I committed to cleaning up and organizing that space, to be followed shortly after by the rest of the basement, without resorting to stuffing everything back into where it had been stored previously — out of sight, out of mind, for so many years.
I even went so far as to donate car maintenance manuals I didn’t need (gasp), and cull the record albums some (also donated) until I got the area, and all the books in it, organized, clutter gone and reading rocker in place so I can sit, read and enjoy my fascinating books. They really are.
Over the years, to use as a resource for keynote speaking material, I have purchased and acquired a really eclectic mix of old books, generally written to inform and guide people through life — with so much of that counsel, particularly regarding medicine and the role of women (written by men, of course), containing some very outdated advice, and particularly sexist lunacy. Highly entertaining to talk about when compared to how far we’ve advanced in both areas today, acknowledging that we still have a long way to go.
I love my library, especially now that it is categorized and organized, with every book in the house in full view, on these wiped and cleaned shelves.
Feels so good to have that job behind me. Won’t stop until the whole house, yard and 42-by-60-foot shed is just as spiffy.
I already did the garage, had it as empty and uncluttered as it could get, until an old buddy, Brian Roziere, my "brutha’ from anotha’ motha", stopped in on his move from B.C. to Quebec, all his belongings crammed in his SUV and enclosed trailer.
We had a great visit over a few days, during which time he went through everything in the SUV and trailer, choosing my spic-and-span garage to downsize a whole lot of his unwanted stuff, mine to do with as I please. Friends. Family. The second they see an open space — at your place — they fill it.
Hey, I’m grateful. This is good stuff, I can use it, as soon as I sort it, then — for the time being, store it someplace — in my house and garage. I swear he drove away chuckling.
A huge downsizing challenge these days is what to do with that old piano — nobody wants them — as well as with the old pump organs. So many of both of those were built with precious old-growth wood. Tragic to see that stuff hit the dump.
That wood should be repurposed and used for crafts or to build new custom furniture, the guts used to build artsy creations. It’s just so wrong to designate beautiful, useful old-growth wood as garbage.
Somebody do something about that, will ya? Thanks.
Some of the toughest stuff to decide what to do with is the generational family items that attrition and the passing of time have left in your care, furniture that your kids and grandkids can’t relate to and don’t want, old letters, pictures and memorabilia with little monetary value but significant emotional value to you/us, our generation but not beyond.
My motto is never throw out family history that is easily stored — papers, pictures, artifacts — who knows how appreciated those might be to a future family historian?
Solution? Force your kids and grandkids to preserve and protect them even if they don’t want to, threatening to cut them out of the will if they seem reluctant to do so.
That isn’t too pushy or overbearing, is it? Good.
Seriously, that family stuff is hard to decide what to do with. Good luck.
Man it feels good to have that office/library chore behind me. NEXT!
Comments or feedback, love to hear from you.
lmustard1948@gmail.com.
