Lately I've become fascinated by the A&E show, "Hoarders". Have you ever seen it? In the past I've watched Clean Sweep and a few other shows about getting rid of clutter, but this Hoarders show is just SO much more than that.
I find it horrifying. Obviously, I'm a person who collects a lot of stuff. A LOT OF STUFF. But this hoarding disease is the most awful thing I've ever heard of. And, it makes me want to get rid of all the mindless junk I collect just because I'm sure I can make something of it, someday, but then I never do.
On one of the shows, a woman actually had two nearly fossilized dead cats under all of the piles and piles of junk in her living room. They estimated that they were probably there for ten years or so.
Another woman had no plumbing. She used adult diapers. She never threw them away. TWO YEARS worth of used diapers were piled all over her house.
These were both older women. It seems with age they don't even notice the mess.
Last night THGGM and I watched one with a younger woman. Due to the condition of her home they had lost their two children. The state took them away. It was OBVIOUS why. At the end of each show, there is a written update. The children have not been returned because she cannot get rid of her junk.
One common thread that seems to run through so many of these stories is that the hoarder seems to always have someone or something else to blame for it.
I don't 'get' the blame part. Nor do I understand mental illness.
Since I do present with anxiety related issues of my own - bouts of agoraphobia, panic attacks and migraine, and have the ability to obsess on some teeeeeny tiiiiny problem when huge problems are churning all around me I find watching "Hoarders" to be oddly interesting.
And, it is such motivation for getting rid of stuff.
Now I only wish I had a bigger trash receptacle.
On Monday night I record Antique Roadshow, American Pickers, and Hoarders. Ending with Hoarders helps me keep it all in perspective.
And for Lent? I think I need to take a break from thrift/antique shopping.
Don't worry. I'll still post stuff to my Simply Thrift blog. There is no shortage of previously thrifted stuff around here.
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6 comments:
I refuse to watch it, except when I get interested in passing by if it's on. It beggars the imagination.
oh, I've heard of this show. Heard the very one about the adult diapers. Ouch.
Lent. Did you have to bring that up?! I've been thinking lately that if I stopped spending $8- $10 a week on STUFF, I could sock it away and buy a leather couch off kijiji...
Delayed gratification.
I'm not so good at that.
And then Lent. Is God speaking through you or something?!
I record those same programs! I've also watched Intervention, but only by chance.
The mind is a deep and mysterious thing, I will never understand how you could give up your children instead of cleaning out your house. But then, mental illness is not easily understood. Compassion works better then trying to understand in some instances. But still....I keep watching trying to figure out what causes such a life style.
I haven't seen the show, but I have heard some horrendous hoarder stories. It seems like the older I get the less stuff I keep. I sometimes think I may go to far the other way, but then I don't have your creative talent so I don't envision what I might use something to create someday.
Every few months there will be a show on our local news about some 'new' animal hoarder they have found. It is strange.
I like how you keep it all in perspective. :)
Man, sometimes I wish I had real cable, not just baby cable. :) I love shows like that. I love anything which shakes more common sense into me, and too, keeps me sympathetic to the plight of others... and anything which keeps me praying for people I don't even know. I'm always looking for inspiration for me to straighten-up and fly right! Blessings, Debra
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