It’s not always about what it might be worth later. It’s often about what it’s worth to the hoarder right now, and how much anguish getting rid of it would cause.
People will develop attachments to the most bizarre of things. Even a straw and a plastic lid.
Source: I’m pretty much a hoarder. Thankfully I don’t develop attachments to rubbish and recyclables like the character in this comic, but I have far too many books, clothes, knick-knacks and household items that I can’t let go of. Many were gifts.
The books are the worst because I feel like they’re tainted by having been in my house. If they ever leave here, the best place for them might be landfill or incineration and that feels like a waste. So here they languish where they might have some use.
You can’t wash a book.
I had a clear-out 10 years ago - anything that could be cleaned up went to charity - and still have regrets about some of that. The next one probably isn’t going to happen any time soon.
You list the books, the condition, add pictures if you choose, people can request it from you if they want it, it’s their choice and you don’t have to feel bad about it, and you ship it to them. In return you get points you can use to request books from others.
I’m a bit of a hoarder, but not because I’m sentimentally attached. I feel like I would later need it and not have it. To my bane, I sometimes end up using some seemingly useless piece of trash one day without having to buy it, thus affirming my beliefs.
I’m 100% gonna use all of those niche, one-off cables. Maybe just the connector will be useful…
That little metal bracket thingy? Uh, I don’t remember what it was for… or actually I do but I don’t have that thing anymore… But if I end up making something similar in size, I’ve already got a bracket!
Was this the box of good parts, or the box of bad parts? Eh, I don’t have time to test right now, better just keep both boxes… (followed by, "why isn’t this working? I just swapped in new parts…)
Ah, this completely useless thing I made! Ha! How foolish I was to think this would ever serve it’s intended purpose. I’d better keep it to remind myself how dumb I was.
Hey, what do you mean your books are tainted by having been in your house? It’s clear you love your books, they aren’t tainted for having come in contact with you. There are plenty of people who would love to have them if you just put a sign out.
When I was younger all I had to pass the time was a random assortment of books my parents had collected over the years. That set introduced me to some of my favorite genres
After having to deal with the shit my hoarder parents had accumulated after they died, all I can advise is make sure you get that shit sorted out or cleaned out before you pass away if you have any family at all.
Having to manage those hordes of shit was fantastically difficult. It’s not “The Sims” you can’t just drag everything to a taskbar and exchange it for cash. The time investment alone of trying to auction or yard sale or swap-meet everything makes it almost completely worthless to attempt.
The number of things I managed to recover and sell that weren’t improperly stored and had value was probably less than a couple thousand dollars in various antiques, which took me years to sort out and find buyers for. From nearly forty years of accumulated shit that cost more to store than could have ever generated in return.
all I can advise is make sure you get that shit sorted out or cleaned out before you pass away
I know you mean well, and I hate to say it, but this is roughly equivalent to telling a depressed person to “cheer up”.
I’m well aware of the burden this would leave someone having to clear out my house, because I’m the one with that same burden right now. This is not the motivation someone in good mental health might think it would be.
Mental illness does not imply stupidity. I mean, I’m plenty stupid a lot of the time, but the two aren’t connected. And I can see the problem where a lot of hoarders can’t. And yet, if I was capable of fixing the problem, it wouldn’t have existed in the first place.
I am well aware of how mental illness works. I am saying don’t leave it on people, nothing more and nothing less. Your mental illness may not be your fault but it is your responsibility.
Strange how this is one of those cases where someone who is clearly incompetent to meet a responsibility must nonetheless meet it. I should maybe pick myself up by my bootstraps while I’m at it.
I know how my comment makes you feel, maybe better than you.
I want you to ruminate on that one thing, that it’s your responsibility. Whatever challenges are in your way, those are what you need to organize and figure how many of those challenges are surmountable and how many are products of your brain seeking safety. If you’re not reaching out for help and spending every waking moment reading and watching how to change your thoughts and feelings so you can accomplish that ONE goal, you are not owning up to your responsibility.
Your breakthrough may feel far off but it will arrive if you start shifting your view to seeing your own thoughts as a challenge or even an enemy to overcome.
In every single case of mental illness, the door is right in front of you but it can take YEARS to turn the knob. If you’re not trying constantly to get there though, you will never turn it. If you’re not tackling like an actual fucking challenge set against you and letting your mind tell you stories for why “nobody understands your problem” and why you’re stuck, you are throwing away something you will regret throwing away later. I promise you will resent every fucking moment you argued with strangers on the internet about if you deserve to feel this way or think these things.
I hope my comments make you mad and you think about them. I won’t see your reply.
There are certain things that I have to avoid thinking about in order that I don’t enter a depressive phase or become suicidal. You are asking me to think about those things.
You are asking a hungry man with no legs to walk a thousand miles for food. “Grow new legs!” you say. “Find a way!”
You are asking me to beat my head repeatedly into a wall until I get through it. I have literally and figuratively bounced my head off a wall. Both made me not want to do that again.
Maybe you’ve got yourself out of this exact situation. Good for you. I am glad you managed it.
It’s not always about what it might be worth later. It’s often about what it’s worth to the hoarder right now, and how much anguish getting rid of it would cause.
People will develop attachments to the most bizarre of things. Even a straw and a plastic lid.
Source: I’m pretty much a hoarder. Thankfully I don’t develop attachments to rubbish and recyclables like the character in this comic, but I have far too many books, clothes, knick-knacks and household items that I can’t let go of. Many were gifts.
The books are the worst because I feel like they’re tainted by having been in my house. If they ever leave here, the best place for them might be landfill or incineration and that feels like a waste. So here they languish where they might have some use.
You can’t wash a book.
I had a clear-out 10 years ago - anything that could be cleaned up went to charity - and still have regrets about some of that. The next one probably isn’t going to happen any time soon.
Bookmooch
You list the books, the condition, add pictures if you choose, people can request it from you if they want it, it’s their choice and you don’t have to feel bad about it, and you ship it to them. In return you get points you can use to request books from others.
I’m a bit of a hoarder, but not because I’m sentimentally attached. I feel like I would later need it and not have it. To my bane, I sometimes end up using some seemingly useless piece of trash one day without having to buy it, thus affirming my beliefs.
Also if you finally throw something out that you hoarded for years, you end up needing it within like a week.
It’s a universal law *nodnod*
DIY-ers unite!
I’m 100% gonna use all of those niche, one-off cables. Maybe just the connector will be useful…
That little metal bracket thingy? Uh, I don’t remember what it was for… or actually I do but I don’t have that thing anymore… But if I end up making something similar in size, I’ve already got a bracket!
Was this the box of good parts, or the box of bad parts? Eh, I don’t have time to test right now, better just keep both boxes… (followed by, "why isn’t this working? I just swapped in new parts…)
Ah, this completely useless thing I made! Ha! How foolish I was to think this would ever serve it’s intended purpose. I’d better keep it to remind myself how dumb I was.
My great-grandmother turned 20 during the Great Depression, and she helped raise me. I think that’s why I’m like this too.
Hey, what do you mean your books are tainted by having been in your house? It’s clear you love your books, they aren’t tainted for having come in contact with you. There are plenty of people who would love to have them if you just put a sign out.
When I was younger all I had to pass the time was a random assortment of books my parents had collected over the years. That set introduced me to some of my favorite genres
I’m just too lazy to toss it right away so I stack it until I hate the stack more than getting up.
Then the cycle repeats.
What are you talking about books? The one thing I sold and bought used the most are books.
After having to deal with the shit my hoarder parents had accumulated after they died, all I can advise is make sure you get that shit sorted out or cleaned out before you pass away if you have any family at all.
Having to manage those hordes of shit was fantastically difficult. It’s not “The Sims” you can’t just drag everything to a taskbar and exchange it for cash. The time investment alone of trying to auction or yard sale or swap-meet everything makes it almost completely worthless to attempt.
The number of things I managed to recover and sell that weren’t improperly stored and had value was probably less than a couple thousand dollars in various antiques, which took me years to sort out and find buyers for. From nearly forty years of accumulated shit that cost more to store than could have ever generated in return.
I know you mean well, and I hate to say it, but this is roughly equivalent to telling a depressed person to “cheer up”.
I’m well aware of the burden this would leave someone having to clear out my house, because I’m the one with that same burden right now. This is not the motivation someone in good mental health might think it would be.
Mental illness does not imply stupidity. I mean, I’m plenty stupid a lot of the time, but the two aren’t connected. And I can see the problem where a lot of hoarders can’t. And yet, if I was capable of fixing the problem, it wouldn’t have existed in the first place.
I am well aware of how mental illness works. I am saying don’t leave it on people, nothing more and nothing less. Your mental illness may not be your fault but it is your responsibility.
Strange how this is one of those cases where someone who is clearly incompetent to meet a responsibility must nonetheless meet it. I should maybe pick myself up by my bootstraps while I’m at it.
I know how my comment makes you feel, maybe better than you.
I want you to ruminate on that one thing, that it’s your responsibility. Whatever challenges are in your way, those are what you need to organize and figure how many of those challenges are surmountable and how many are products of your brain seeking safety. If you’re not reaching out for help and spending every waking moment reading and watching how to change your thoughts and feelings so you can accomplish that ONE goal, you are not owning up to your responsibility.
Your breakthrough may feel far off but it will arrive if you start shifting your view to seeing your own thoughts as a challenge or even an enemy to overcome.
In every single case of mental illness, the door is right in front of you but it can take YEARS to turn the knob. If you’re not trying constantly to get there though, you will never turn it. If you’re not tackling like an actual fucking challenge set against you and letting your mind tell you stories for why “nobody understands your problem” and why you’re stuck, you are throwing away something you will regret throwing away later. I promise you will resent every fucking moment you argued with strangers on the internet about if you deserve to feel this way or think these things.
I hope my comments make you mad and you think about them. I won’t see your reply.
There are certain things that I have to avoid thinking about in order that I don’t enter a depressive phase or become suicidal. You are asking me to think about those things.
You are asking a hungry man with no legs to walk a thousand miles for food. “Grow new legs!” you say. “Find a way!”
You are asking me to beat my head repeatedly into a wall until I get through it. I have literally and figuratively bounced my head off a wall. Both made me not want to do that again.
Maybe you’ve got yourself out of this exact situation. Good for you. I am glad you managed it.
I am not you.