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Clutter is an interesting phenomenon. Why do we keep things? Some people like to think of it as a “family trait,” others like to think of it as “collecting stuff,” some people call it being a “pack rat,” but what is it really and why do we do it?

What is the difference between Hoarding and clutter? I went looking for an answer and found it here: http://understanding_ocd.tripod.com/hoarding_cluttering.html

While both terms are used to denote someone who accumulates many things to the point of it becoming a problem there still is a difference.

Hoarder.:
Someone who Hoards has psychiatric condition that affects less than 1 % of the population.
The person obsesses over his stuff and will most likely not find a solution unless professional help is sought.
The collected stuff will cause serious distress and discomfort and will limit the person’s ability to make good use of his house or rooms. They will not take out trash and will often keep about anything.


Clutterer.:
Cluttering affects millions of people.
Someone that lives amongst clutter accumulates without much thought and would probably be able to make the changes themselves if motivated enough to do so.
Often this will never get to such an extreme point as to debilitate the persons freedom and comfort. They will be able to take out trash and throw things away if given enough reason.

What they don’t mention is that some people “keep things” because they are sure they will come in handy at a future date. For those of us who grew up in poverty and without much stuff or many things – we may keep things because we are not sure if we will ever “get” them again. And sometimes our keeping things makes us feel like our life is more opulent and less based on scarcity.

I look around at the “clutter” in my space and I have a difficult time deciding which things need to go. My indecision comes from the fact that I live in a studio apartmet with a small kitchen and what I really need is a 1 bedroom apartment with a large kitchen with cupboards. If I had an “adult” sized space – I would not have a clutter problem. So, do I get rid of things, or do I generate more income for a larger space? This is my quandry and I am looking at apartments to see how much more income I have to generate!

I was in an auto accident 3 years ago that left me with a damaged back and awful pain, and now it is mostly healed but I have gained weight from inactivity while the back was damaged. It is time to focus attention on improving my diet and exercising gently to get in shape once again and to regain the strength and flexibility in my back which is now very stiff and slightly hunched over. I am confident that my back and body will be restored to good health!

When my finances are stable and secure from freelance work and self-employment, I want to buy a small van conversion RV and spend 2 years on the road traveling through the United States. I want to stay in interesting old motels, eat at local greasy spoons, talk to the local townfolk over breakfast, visit church services at small churches that are “in the middle of nowhere,” document roadside art- the south is RICH with this, and get invited into people’s homes for dinner with their families. For all the “press” about how divided America is, I believe that at the end of the day we all want the same things for ourselves and our loved ones: to love and be loved, to have a roof over our head, to have adequate food, meaningful work, the right to live our lives as we choose and to accept the blessings and consequences for our choices, to be unemcumbered by big government and left with our individual liberties in tact. Oh yes, and a right to hate the big media that is working so hard to drive wedges between us.

I have some friends (a nice couple) who bought an RV last year, and they are using it to visit every “kinky” event they can find in all the lower 48 states.

So far I have been to: Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana.