Stuff

I think Ted Danson's character on the show BORED TO DEATH said it best, "I've never had anything removed before, like my appendix, tonsils, wisdom teeth. I hold on to everything. I'm like a hoarder, I guess."  I was cleaning this past weekend and I realized it was less about the actual cleaning and more about what would I be able to part with from my numerous boxes of treasures and keepsakes. Now let me start by saying I'm the type of person who whenever I go to a party, graduation, on a date or someone's house for dinner I'm always on the look-out for a souvenir to keep to remember the occasion by. Its not enough for me to take a bunch of pictures or later write what I was thinking or doing during that event in my journal but that I gotta have something I can hold and keep. Having watched numerous episodes of A&E's show, HOARDERS last fall I can safely say that I am not a full on hoarder. I don't keep random boxes of ribbons or stacks of plates, all red socks or stuffed frogs only bought at truck-stops. However I do like the stuff, specifically my stuff. And as my mother so brutally pointed out once,  I've also been known to get a little testy if someone wants to help me sort or clean. Momma has told me many times before that I'm a hard person to live with and I think I believe her now as I really do have a certain way that I like to live, clean, sort and catalog my life. I think my collecting has more to do with the comfort of repetition and pattern and less about the actual stuff. I have a certain comfort level that happens when things are back in the same place and that type of order makes sense to me. I think I've gotten into numerous squabbles with my monkeys when they don't pick-up after themselves or leave wet towels on the floor. For me that disturbs the order of my universe...  I've noticed here lately my daughter is more inclined to some of my proclivities when it comes to organization and collecting while my son seems to follow the sensibilities of his father. I just wonder though if I am just one step away from being like those folks on those documentaries who like their stuff so much that it replaces truly happy feelings that one normally gets from friends and family.  I continue to ponder this thought as I sort and clean out yet another pile of my treasures and keep-sakes from under my desk....