Confessions of a Hoarder

I like to call San Francisco the world’s tiniest big city, because it offers everything you need and more, all reachable within a 30-minute time frame. What more can you wish for in a city? However, the downside of living in this tiny big city is that due to the lack of space everyone is forced to live on top of each other.

 

Like many others in San Francisco, I live in a small, shared apartment.  Often I am torn between creating a sense of space in my room by limiting my stuff or trying to hold onto items I never use but might need later in my life. 

For example, all those shoe boxes that came with my new Vans (I buy one pair every month). When my roommate asked me why I am holding onto so many shoeboxes in my tiny, little room, I came up with numerous reasons to carefully convince her, and myself, that I really do need them. For instance, I might use them to send a package of American goodies to my mom. Or they will come in handy when I decide to start that Do It Yourself (DIY) project. Someday.

 

To support this point, I googled "Things to make using a shoebox". I was astounded by what you can create with a simple shoe box. So much so that I read them out loud to my roommate, noting rhetorically, "See? throwing them away would just be plain silly, right?"

She laughed out loud because she knows perfectly well that I am not capable of pursuing any DIY project.  And, to my sadness, I know she is right; I don't really do crafty. Yet I am still sure that it is totally worth stocking my room with shoeboxes in case I ever decide to do so. You never know. I'd like to have the option.

Now let's talk about that suitcase under my desk. I cannot put my legs on the ground while sitting behind my desk because the suitcase is in the way. However, it is the only space in my room where I can store it.

I have never used the suitcase nor I am probably ever going to use it.  It is too big to take on a weekend trip and too small to take on a longer trip. But sell it? No! It is a good suitcase. The color is cute. "I would probably regret selling it", I whisper to myself.  Even after I badly stub my little toe against it.

The worst item I am currently holding on to is an inconveniently located cat scratch pole.  It stands awkwardly and lonely-like in the hallway. I do not have a cat. Many people bump into it entering the apartment and ask me why it is there (since, I do not have a cat). I say, "I am hanging onto it. In case I ever decide to get a cat." Which I am sure I will at some point in my life.


It's just that right now I am not aloud to have pets in my apartment. But maybe, just maybe, if I ever move... The thought of a happy little kitten coming home into a house that is prepared with a comfy cat scratch pole ensures me that it is worth holding onto. Even if that means that any guest who enters the apartment will bump into it every time. And that they think of me as the crazy cat lady. Without the cat.

I am not going to hide; I see a pattern here. My room is stuffed with items that I probably do not need. And the first step in solving a problem is recognizing that there is one.  One of those future next steps is sorting and separating and parting with some of my precious either by a) selling it online or b) shipping it off to the dump.

 

I know that my hoarding habits are not as bad as those people you see on hoarding shows on TV. But living in San Francisco, this crowded small city that I love, I have to accept that there just is not enough space for items that I do not use. That is why it is time for me to let go.

One... item... at... a... time.

#fullhouse #safelocalselling #pixiboard