Change Lessons from Hoarders



finished my stone walkway

In my last post I mentioned two favorite organizing people. The first is Donna Smallin Kuper.

Who's the other person? Matt Paxton

Hoarders anyone? It was the freakiest, coolest show. Aired on A&E, it chronicled the attempt to help hoarders when they were against the wall due to whatever—landlords, city ordinances, health, whoever. And the weird thing is, they weren’t all crazy cat people—though many had a few hundred cats. They were just people. Most were people who had bad stuff happen to trigger the hoarding.

Matt (and others) cleaned out their houses but the crew also helped sort their lives as well. They cleaned but the hoarder had to make the decision to let things go. It was the only way to break the cycle. 

I like Matt because he’s real. He knows what needing help is all about. He’s a good cleaner, but he's also got his own interesting story of addiction. As he alludes to, all he’s done is trade one addiction for another, but at least this one doesn't get his kneecaps broken intentionally.

Another sad lesson from this is many of the people who hoard have others in their lives—family and friends who suspected but didn’t jump in. Oh, that’s not an indictment. It’s just a comment. I always wondered “how did they let it get that far?”

So, what’s this all about?

I find it ironic that Matt’s who I wanted to post about on Wednesday and now I find myself on Sunday evening still trying to get this posted. I'm so far behind!

It’s about perseverance and fortitude to make the changes you want. It doesn’t matter how far you’ve gotten into the rut.  You can do it!
Change means sacrifice and letting go. On the show some people just couldn’t do it.  But some were able to change their homes and their lives.

So, even though I’m late, I’m still going to hang in there.  I’m still posting this.

Lessons from Matt and Hoarders:

(don’t try to Google them—I’m making them up)

 1. Don't forget your friends and family--especially those who live alone.
 2. Be patient with yourself. Nobody's perfect and on time every time.
 3. We all need a little help from our friends sometimes.
 4. But sometimes we will be alone, no matter who we call.


cleaned out my truck--
does anybody know this pony?

5. In the end the decisions are ours alone.
 6. There are ordinances on the number of cats you can have.
 7. Nobody allows coyotes to be kept. (well, that was my discovery)

Lasting change takes time.
The two questions we have to ask ourselves:
1. Do I want to change?
2. What am I willing to let go of for it?

p.s.--my house is not a hoarder house, but Clean Sweep would have fun in it.

Action! Listening to the Voice(s)

In the first few posts I was thinking about why I want to clean. What's the point of home organization? I'm single. I should be out doing stuff. (I guess if I want friends over....)
I could expound on all the touchy-feely stuff until the cows come home but I still won't be where I want to be and I'll have cows in my yard.  Plus, I'm bored with that right now.
Action!
Here's my plan for actually organizing. I don't remember what words I used.
Home discovery. That's right.

the  jar is in  the center

Wow, don't I sound pretentious?
So, anyway--Action, yeah.

My Home Discovery Plan.
I gave my rooms spiffy names and wrote them on some paper. Then I put them in a jar.
Each day I'll pull a name out and work on that room for one hour. It doesn't have to be a full one hour at a time. It can be broken into intervals, especially since some days I don't have a whole hour time block, but lots of 5 or 10 minutes here and there.
Some people like to go room by room. I thought about that. But, I get bored easily. So I thought this way I can work with my self-proclaimed ADHD and not have to focus for long in one spot.
(I know it's not really ADHD, but it sounds as important as Home Discovery!)
My plan for this mission is to post on Sundays and Wednesdays. I won't give the boring low-down, but just update everyone on my progress.

If I can, I'll find a link to some other cool cleaning or organizing site or some touchy-feely kind of something.
Today's link will be brought to you by one of my two favorite organizing people: Donna Smallin Kuper at DeClutter Your Life . Check out her books and her blog. I love this month's unclutter tips, but going through the history is so worth it, too.

Recently I think Donna has taken up residence in my head. When I want to buy something she says "Do you really need that? Are you really going to use that?"  Sometimes I just say What Would Donna Do?
Yesterday apparently she would put back two writing magazines, three books on creativity and --irony--organizing, two Dr. Who comics, and a Sandman Graphic Novel. The last killed me because it was a special edition.
But Voice Donna said "Don't you have that one already? In fact, don't you have them all?"
I left Books-A-Million without so much as a coffee.
You're killing me, Donna! 


So, today's room was the Wild and Sunny Room. (Aka--the dining room) I was surprised that I found enough things to do that it took me a whole 57 minutes to finish straightening it. This worries me since that's my smallest space! Had to go through lots of papers on the table, but there's more than one place in my house that's got lots of papers. EEEK!




If you're reading this, any thoughts on organizing for those who don't have much time and nobody to delegate to? Any favorite decluttering sites?

First Podcast

Scary, but here's the sound of my voice. This is to kick off my posts on what I call my pilgrimage to creativity, starting with my home.
(Now doesn't that sound esoteric?)


Download this episode (right click and save)