Chaos of Clutter

I have enjoyed many different types of careers within my nursing career including 12 years spent as a homecare nurse. I like caring for patients and families on their turf. I learn so much about a person from their environment, it is an extension of their personality and often, pathologies. One memorable case really opened my eyes to the obessive compulsive disorder of hoarders.

This dear, sweet elderly woman lived alone in a 1200 square foot California bungalow with two bedrooms and a bathroom. I will have to take the fact there was a second bedroom on faith as the house, except for a narrow pathway, was unpassable. There were old newspapers, junk mail, catalogs, paper bags, and all manner of detritus stacked up on every available horizontal surface. It was a canyon of stuff leaning up against the walls in the hallway and the kitchen. Only one half of the stove top was accessible as the other half was covered with pots, pans, dishes, and trash. The patient had a double bed of which a narrow section was open for sleeping as the rest was covered with more newspapers, magazines, craft projects, and stuff. It was amazing as this woman was adamant nothing get thrown out. Needless to say, the house was a huge fire and safety hazard, especially for an elderly person with limited mobility. I worked with the community Fire Department and Social Worker to address this extreme situation. It was heartbreaking to see this, especially how distressing this is to the hoarder. It truly is a mental illness requiring professional pyschological assistance.

I am not a fan of tchtokes (knick knacks in Yiddish), but I enjoy art and have a few collections of things that are meaningful and bring me joy. I have to work hard to keep the clutter/mess monster at bay. It seems to be unavoidable fact of civilized life that stuff will creep into my living space. I have learned a few things so my house doesn't need an intervention from the city including:

I sort mail at the recycling bin, try to keep junk mail from entering the house.

All the stuff like bills, statements, important paperwork, I try to follow the mantra, "Handle paper only once". Which means, I will sort it, file it,or act on it, not bury it with the magazines and forget about it. No, no, no. Well, that's my goal anyway, my reality, well, Flylady I am not. Not even Flygirl. More like Penguin Waddle girl...

Anytime I get something new, like a new kitchen gadget, I will get rid of a something else in the kitchen. Or if it's a new pair of jeans, I will donate a pair of pants or other clothing (doesn't even have to be mine, could be the kids). This is based on the input/output system where your house is a closed system and if you take something in, you must also eliminate something, kind of like a living thing. Pretty cool, eh? We always keep a box in the garage for donations and just put them out there as they become redundant or outgrown, etc.

I plan for purging stuff on a semi regular basis or when the mood strikes. I like to enlist the boys in cleaning out old stuff when they expect an influx of new stuff like before the holidays or their birthdays. Our youngest son cracked me up when he brought me his old bathrobe to donate to Good.will after getting a new one for Christmas.

The mood to clean struck recently(like a blue moon, not too often) to clean out some closets and donate pillows and blankets to a local animal rescue, New Leash on Life. I was inspired also by the Blanket/Clothing Drive sponsored by AntiBloggedy which has a cool prize if you are struck with a mood to straighten and donate to a worthy cause in your community.

I appreciate the opportunity to clean up my act and do something for someone else too. Thank you and I would appreciate any tips you have to keep your environment or life more streamlined and peaceful.

CHAOS = Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome