Recovering Hoarder Wants to Declutter & Get Organized So Please Send Good Vibes

- while I still have this novel urge pushing me on! I have given away literally several car loads of old clothing going back to my early teens, unsuitable gifts, and misc. stuff in the past few years so I *am* making progress. It just is gut wrenching at times to face that needy fear that made me hang on to useless things so long. also there *might* be a genetic or family component as several people in one side of my biological family hoard (I am adopted).

Please include my back which I pulled yesterday moving TVs with my Mom. My sister got our Mom a big flat screen tv for Mother's Day and she had them put it on the tall tv stand where mr. Michael cat leaped on top of almost knocking it down except she grabbed it in time. By that time the appliance guy was long gone so me and my currently bad back had the fun of helping Mom lift the old heavy tv back up on top of the stand and take the other old tv in the living room on the low tv stand (and I told Mom if my sis ever did give her one as she had been saying for months that she would for goodness sakes have the tv put *THERE* because of 1) the cats & 2) that is where is watches tv 90%+ of the time). Please include my Mom as much as she is willing to accept. I live with her and will for the foreseeable future. Herr idea of cleaning things up is to get rid of everything including useful things that aren't used regularly but will be actually needed later or simply are big like a freestanding cabinet which then we will have nothing to put all the stuff in it in. huh? I can't even get her to talk to me about stupid things like how to handle the mail so one or both of us aren't hunting for bills. When she gets the mail she just puts it anywhere a chair, kitchen table, a counter... and then complains the mess and not finding anything. This owuld be so funny on a tv show but it is so frusterating in real life to not even be able to get my housemate to agree on a designated mail spot/box/something. it's going to irritate her to bring more items into the house but this weekend I am going to buy a file box or two, folders and something to put mail in.

De-cluttering is my long-term project of the last year or so. It's hard, but I always feel better once I've gotten rid of what I can.

My other problem is sometimes I get too eager and end up donating or trashing something I wish back like one time I got rid of all my ragged clothes which left nothing but my best jeans and new sneakers for when helping my Gram in the garden :o Now I make sure to leave some raggity items for doing dirty work.

Look how much you've done already! I'm not a hoarder but neatness doesn't come easy for me. May I offer something that helped me? It started small and then spread to other areas.

We moved not too long ago, and I needed to create a sacred space in our new place. Mine is a small table in our front entryway. It has my crystals, a candle, a chakra-inspired hanging, an incense burner, and some chimes. I love it so much and am always motivated to keep that little area clean. I feel like any clutter there interferes with the good energy that I'm trying to foster. That 'little area' got a bit bigger each day and extended itself to my living room, and now my main living areas are mostly neat! Is there a way to make yourself a sacred space (although it wouldn't surprise me if you already have one!)

Maybe your mom is just overwhelmed. You all can't tidy and organize everything in a day, so take it slow and don't forget to be proud of yourself for making progress.

Vibes for you and your mom :hug:

or lack there of, instead of realizing it is 90% other stress plus 10% messy house irritation. It is much easier to catch others in avoidance behaviors than it is to catch myself but then I remind myself to watch myself better :o I have tried showing her my room and how much less stuff is in it and all she can see is things she thinks I should get rid of. For several years now when she is stressed out by something she starts complaining about me having too many books and how they are a fire hazard. Four small bookcases plus several boxes worth which I am NOT getting rid of. Though I do wish she would let me pay for a session with my metaphysically oriented psychotherapist who does Past Life Regression so maybe she will stop worrying my books are about to spontaneously combust.

I have kinda dedicated the whole house energeitcally speaking to being sacred space it is bringing the physical inline with the spiritual that is my challenge. One of my goals is to make the top of my dresser into an alter both for privacy and to keep the furkids from deciding it would be better used as a lounging area, delicate items bedarned {{{crash, tinkle}}}

http://www.flylady.net/ ? It might be a bit drastic to implement entirely, but Fly Lady just popped into mind while reading your OP. I used to take her yahoo group mail lists. hmmm

For inspiration, perspective or just imagine, look at the coverage in issue #29, "How Small Can You Go". I would LOVE a house like that.
http://www.flypmedia.com/

You've always got my warm feelings and best vibes, Shallah. There seems to be a family dynamic involved there as well. The implications could be larger than you know!

:D

One of my friends loves that site!

my biggest hurdle is the anxiety to outright panic at times getting rid of things brings up in me. And at times it seems the longer I have had an item the harder it is to let go, no matter how useless it is. hmmm. Maybe I need to smudge my room and call back any bits of personal energy invested in the items..... Maybe they have picked up my vibes just from being around me for all these years. Will try this within the next few days & report if it helps any!

BTW if anyone knows how to get the smell of mothballs out of a chest of drawers mine still reeks after being put in storage years ago. After cleaning drawers I don't want to put the clothing I am keeping back in until they stop picking up that toxic stench! Going to try dishes of baking soda and see what happens...

get rid of any of those sweet kitties!

Now, better get back to my hoarded books and office supplies.

as long as we don't go over 10 again! Cats & Books are one thing I will allow myself to continue to accumulate within reason.

BTW dropped of a small bag of stuff at Goodwill today and accumulated 3 more books & a 'new' purse that is big enough for my small hairbrush. Resisted looking at clothing as weight is in transition. My fat cells have decluttered 25 pounds since January and hope to release 20 more before end of summer.

oh, my dear, how I empathize. You are doing yourself a service by getting rid of things you don't need. I come from a big family, and we always tried to repurpose. Growing up, there wasn't a whole lot of money so that might have something to do with it. I am not sure. But I have faith in you. I believe you will get through this. :hi:

I wonder if all us clutterbugs wanting to be cured has anything to do with Chiron Jupiter Neptune conjunction by bringing up this issue for healing !

Maybe I will do energy week of decluttering if anyone is interested.....

Oh boy do I need some of that!

Thanks!
:hi:

Group work is always so much more powerful than the sum of it's parts :bounce:

:hi:

will get it set up before days end! :bounce: :bounce:

Purge Toxic Possessions…The happier you are


Dwelling on regrets and negative memories fuels depression, which is why clearing out the tangible reminders can give you a lift, says Peter Walsh, the organizer on TLC's Clean Sweep and author of Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?: An Easy Plan for Losing Weight and Living More. For example, if a certain dress played a critical part in a former relationship, get rid of it, no matter how beautiful it may be; each time you look at it, you're emotionally drawn back to that time. Likewise the year's worth of old New Yorker magazines you'll never have time to read, the photo of a friend who incessantly puts you down—toss!

http://www.peterwalshdesign.com/

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=oprah+clutter+peter+walsh&btnG=Google+Search&aq=8&oq=oprah+clutt

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=clutter+peter+walsh&btnG=Search

I checked it out. Pretty good stuff.

I got the Don Aslett books on clearing out clutter a couple of decades ago. I think they were the first books on the subject. In fact, I had a letter to him printed in "Clutter's Last Stand".
That makes me a published author. :D

I come from a small family, but my parental units and grandparental units saved everything b/c they lived thru the Depression. So when I was cleaning out the house that had been in my family for 3 generations, I think there were about 5 or 6 households' worth of stuff in it.

Please to the link below and post in reply "I am Receiving" so us senders know which way to aim :bounce:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=245&topic_id=92328&mesg_id=92329