in a way it's soothing to see people with way worse cleaning problems...
I've been watching some episodes of that Hoarders reality tv show after I came across clips from it somewhere that piqued my curiosity, and I'm really baffled. Not so much by the mindsets that lead to keeping all kinds of stuff including junk, and letting your living space deteriorate, as that I don't understand how many of them could have had the money and time to acquire all these things in the first place.
Because of this I keep finding the cases with people who really just have junk (like things they collected from dumpsters or even empty boxes or plastic bottles or such) far more comprehensible than the people with piles and piles of clothes, stuffed animals, or other things they paid for. Even if you buy second hand on some flea market, with those massive volumes that has to add up significantly, doesn't it?
I'm fairly sure that the main reason my own place doesn't look worse is that I have neither money nor inclination for the process to acquire things to begin with. I like having things well enough, but shopping is awful, and comparing prices or looking for bargains or searching for things is worse. (You see, I'm not fond of flea markets or such.) I don't even like looking for comics all that much. Actually one of the reasons why I hang onto semi-broken things myself is to avoid buying new ones, and not just because of the money. Like for example I have this immersion blender, and parts of the plastic have broken off, so it is rather less usable, because the part that properly keeps the distance between the blades and the bottom is not working as intended anymore. However you can still blend things with it of you take care. I use this tool fairly often, so I'm annoyed quite a often too, and immersion blenders aren't *that* expensive, and yet. It's been broken for many months now. Or how I've been living with some bare light bulbs for over 15 years to avoid having to buy ceiling lamps or lampshades or the like, when just having the bulb is adequate for having light.
I also have some truly broken things for which I had to get replacements yet still haven't thrown away the old ones, but that is mostly old electronics, like my broken digital camera, because I am too lazy to bring them to the recycling collection place for specialized waste, but feel bad about putting them in the trash against the rules.
IMO the only shopping that is remotely tolerable is restocking things that I know where to buy at an acceptable price, so that no choices or comparisons or other tedious (or even anxiety inducing) efforts need to be made. So I'm baffled that all these people get a kick out of acquiring things, when it takes so much effort, time and financial resources, whereas I understand the inertia, vague or aborted ideas and sentimental attachments that lead to keeping stuff that is already there quite well. I suppose my own hoarding tendencies are kept in check sufficiently on the acquisition side so problems on the disposal side just can't escalate too badly.
Because of this I keep finding the cases with people who really just have junk (like things they collected from dumpsters or even empty boxes or plastic bottles or such) far more comprehensible than the people with piles and piles of clothes, stuffed animals, or other things they paid for. Even if you buy second hand on some flea market, with those massive volumes that has to add up significantly, doesn't it?
I'm fairly sure that the main reason my own place doesn't look worse is that I have neither money nor inclination for the process to acquire things to begin with. I like having things well enough, but shopping is awful, and comparing prices or looking for bargains or searching for things is worse. (You see, I'm not fond of flea markets or such.) I don't even like looking for comics all that much. Actually one of the reasons why I hang onto semi-broken things myself is to avoid buying new ones, and not just because of the money. Like for example I have this immersion blender, and parts of the plastic have broken off, so it is rather less usable, because the part that properly keeps the distance between the blades and the bottom is not working as intended anymore. However you can still blend things with it of you take care. I use this tool fairly often, so I'm annoyed quite a often too, and immersion blenders aren't *that* expensive, and yet. It's been broken for many months now. Or how I've been living with some bare light bulbs for over 15 years to avoid having to buy ceiling lamps or lampshades or the like, when just having the bulb is adequate for having light.
I also have some truly broken things for which I had to get replacements yet still haven't thrown away the old ones, but that is mostly old electronics, like my broken digital camera, because I am too lazy to bring them to the recycling collection place for specialized waste, but feel bad about putting them in the trash against the rules.
IMO the only shopping that is remotely tolerable is restocking things that I know where to buy at an acceptable price, so that no choices or comparisons or other tedious (or even anxiety inducing) efforts need to be made. So I'm baffled that all these people get a kick out of acquiring things, when it takes so much effort, time and financial resources, whereas I understand the inertia, vague or aborted ideas and sentimental attachments that lead to keeping stuff that is already there quite well. I suppose my own hoarding tendencies are kept in check sufficiently on the acquisition side so problems on the disposal side just can't escalate too badly.