Hoarding Heartache?

Oh, my goodness!!! I am a hoarder! But I am trying very hard to be a reformed hoarder. 

I have lived, in my house, for over twenty years. In that time I have collected many things, including household items, collectibles, costumes, clothing that does not fit anymore ... and a mountain load of paper. Paper disguised as books, old art work and prose, recipes (that have never been used), reams of photocopied information on various interests such as Historical costume re-creation and multiple copies of  pictures that I once thought were cool. (some still are).  Over the years, we have added an attic and a front room extension to house the ever-expanding collection of 'stuff'. 

This year, I have been stronger; I have culled many ill-fitting items of clothing and donated them to charity or given them away on Freecycle. I am a big fan of reuse and recycle. Repurposing items is not only good for our environment, it is fun and saves you money! It is such a waste to throw perfectly useful items away, when they are inconvenient or just not wanted anymore.  I even have a FB page: Reuse, Recycle and Grow. 

This week we started to catalogue and rearrange three of our bookshelves (We have over nine more to go). Removed, was a whole shelf of spiral, plastic folders - the ones with the clear plastic slip in sleeves. The spines announced they held papers related to gloves, shoes, hose, headwear, blackwork, extant clothing and patterns; the list went on... and on... and on.. and...

Finally, I got the best of my procrastination, and decided to tackle the pile. After four hours of exhausting work ( and much sneezing with the dust kicked up), I now have half of the pile sorted resulting in thirteen empty folders, seven full ones and nine centimetres of used paper for our 'reuse pile' (great for scribble paper). So, it is Autumn and I am doing Spring cleaning. For me, it is best to organise and downsize when I am in a ruthless, culling mood before I give in and return half of the un-needed items to 'stash'.

Life can also be a hoarding exercise, collecting too much baggage and never letting any of it go. Many things can and should probably be forgotten, especially if they are causing heartache. I think I am finally reaching a point where I can let go  and maybe I can stop hoarding some of my stresses.

Today: another day, another cup of tea, another pile to cull...