Tags
chaos, clutter, disorganized, hoarding, messy, multimedia, organization, parenting, siblings
While sitting around my brother’s table one evening, my youngest brother announces that a discussion has ensued with our sister regarding me. What was this, an intervention? Ah the blessing and curse of a tightly knit group of siblings. My brother proceeds to announce that they believe I am a Level III hoarder. What?!?
Okay, I have admitted on numerous occasions that yes, I lost an entire garage space of storage when we moved, and yes my girls could live without a a few barbies, and okay, I deemed that the useless sun-room could take the place of the garage I lost, but a Level III hoarder?
Deciding that none of them have done any homework on such conditions beyond a few episodes of the aptly named television show “Hoarders,” I did some research of my own. According to the National Study Group of Chronic Disorganization a Level III Hoarder is defined as follows:
Level III. Household may require services in addition to those a professional organizer and related professional can provide. Professional organizers and related professionals working with Level III households should have significant training in Chronic Disorganization and have developed a helpful community network of resources, especially mental health providers.
By this definition I am fairly sure that my sun-room issues do not, as of yet, require professional services nor do I require the assistance of a mental health provider, at least not for this. And let’s be reasonable, to my knowledge nobody is going to unearth a few dead cats amidst the random boxes. At least, I hope not. Have not had a cat in ages…. or is that what happened?
Needless to say, I drove home feeling a little bit miffed to say the least. My home has been a place that at one point had been described as a mausoleum of cleanliness and organization. This week while the girlies have been out of town, I decided that it was time for spring cleaning. And of course the best time to get rid of things that they would well, hoard, if they saw me attempting to toss said items in the Goodwill bag.
Later as I was going through books, DVD and the like I was suddenly hit with a realization of massive proportions. They were partially right. I am a collector, of media. Books, Magazines, CD’s (back in the day) digital media, work-out DVD’s, even iPhone apps that I have yet to use. Is this what I hoard? Because every time I go through them, I think well, I paid good money for them and I’ll use it sometime. So now, I need to acknowledge that I do have a problem. I’m a multimedia hoarder.
Hi, I am Sarah, and I am a Level I hoarder. And please, excuse my sun-room because I do not have a garage but eventually I will so kindly get off my back….
-Charmed, I’m Sure
“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” – A. A. Milne
Charmed, I'm Sure 
I've come to the conclusion that some level of hoarding is good.
Ok, I don't know what happened to the rest of my comment. Supposed to say that some level of hoarding is better than being in a constant state of chucking out the old stuff and bringing in new stuff. I think it's good to assign some value to our material things that could be used again or fixed up like new. At least you're not wasteful!