Postby bittersweet » Tue Jan 11, 2011 2:02 pm
I watched an episode of the Hoarders last night. Yes, it's a very emotional show ...and this episode was particularly emotional for me, because both of the people involved were animal hoarders, but with very different perspectives on dealing with the issue. The man had started out with the intention of breeding pet rats for sale, but it had TOTALLY gotten out of hand!! They had all gotten loose, and by the time the situation was dealt with, he had over two thousand rats in the house!!!!!!! He couldn't live in there anymore - they had literally destroyed the furniture, the walls...everything! Although he loved the rats, and was using them as a way to avoid dealing with the sudden death of his wife several years ago, he realized that the kindest thing to do was to get them all caught. The Humane Society and a local rat rescue group came to help, and so far, over 500 have been rehabilitated, socialized, and sent to new adoptive homes.
The woman, on the other hand, had 43 cats in her house!! She admitted that she couldn't get more than two hours of sleep at a time in the small area that was still available to her (the entire house was dreadfully hoarded, too). The house is owned by her father, who has threatened to evict her if she doesn't deal with the situation. She refused, though...wouldn't work with the doctor or the team of cleaners that came, blamed everything on everyone else - NOTHING was her fault, and in her view, all would be fine if people would just leave her alone! In the end, she kicked them all out, and she's still there, living in her mess.
Peter Walsh has a great view of how to deal with clutter, which is mainly what I have here. Throwing out the broken stuff, the empty boxes, etc...I have no problem with that. It's all the crafting stuff everywhere, the books, the Christmas stuff, the "I'm going to do...... with that one day" stuff. That's where my problem is. But he's totally right...the clutter is overwhelming, dealing with the clutter is overwhelming, and making plans, lists, and whatever all else to deal with the clutter only ever ends up being just another way to procrastinate and not deal with it.
OK...I didn't quite intend to write a novel here.. LOL
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." Ralph Waldo Emerson