A hoarder’s collection becomes art

We’ve all known a hoarder—and maybe there’s a little of that in all of us.  I don’t think of myself as a hoarder, yet I do have favorite “collections,” like small pieces of Hull Pottery, works by Ohio artists, kitty boxes (small) made of glass, ceramic, card board, etc., glass and crystal that belonged to my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, books I’ll never read but like to look at on the shelves, old photographs, and when we put up the tree yesterday, I could see decorations 40-50 years old. I even have three editions of old Encyclopedia Britannica, about 100 years old. And of course, my clothing “archive,” dresses or jackets I wore in the past to dances, weddings, Easter services, etc. The oldest is from winter dance 1955, if you don’t count the dolls and doll clothes which are from the 1940s. These dollies (mine) are sitting on my great grandmother’s chair next to my husband’s grandparents’ secretary. But is that hoarding or saving antiques? Ask my daughter after I’m gone and she has to dispose of it.

         

  

This daughter was ashamed of her mother’s hoarding, but eventually learned to turn it into art.

http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/12/a-mothers-hoarding-a-daughters-art/?

http://www.stephanielcalvert.com/resume/

          

Hoarders on TLC

It's a bit like watching an accident. I usually clean up my desk or the kitchen after watching an episode. Today's (Hoarding: Buried alive) was about a couple in Columbus, Ohio. So I Googled the question, "do hoarders exist in third world countries," because it looked like some of these people have a serious affluence problem. And it was a Facebook question with people discussing animals who hoard and other odd behavior, so apparently you don't need to be affluent or have enough space to just go out and buy things. I've seen therapy on the show, but not many cures--it certainly breaks up families. Stuff is more important, so of course, the family or friends feel diminished. The adult children of the Columbus woman said they had a picture perfect childhood and a clean home when they were growing up. They won't visit now.

I see that TLC also has extreme couponing videos, but I'm the Columbus Anti-Coupon Queen, and I would hate to lose my title, so I don't watch.

Shamed into cleaning my car interior

I've cleaned out my car. I was shamed into it. On Wednesday I'd parked at the UAPL Lane Rd. next to a gray Sebring convertible (top up), with a Zanesville dealer plate holder. As I got out of my van, I looked into that car's interior--sits very low. Trash filled the entire interior up to the dash. A Columbus Dispatch unread was on top, sliding onto the dash, disgorging all the glossy adverts. There was just enough room for the driver to slip behind the steering wheel. There was more "stuff" in that 2 door sports car than in our entire garage (not counting our cabinets); more stuff than our basement storeroom; more stuff than my office. Gracious! I thought. Is that what people think when they look at that handy net between the driver and passenger seat of my van? About 4 magazines, various tissues, an umbrella, 3 or 4 pens and pencils, gas receipts, small water bottle, CDs, grocery store flyers, church newsletters from February, a bath towel/floor mat for exercise class, gloves, sun glasses, etc. At my next stop, I grabbed a plastic bag and filled it with everything that was disposable and not needed and put it in a trash can. Hoarding I don't do. Clutter, yes. Hoarders can't dispose because of the fear that something terrible will happen--like a need or desire to use it. Imagine your worst fear, and that's what they experience throwing out their "treasures." Then today I dropped off the package of donated items that had been in the back seat for 4 or 5 months. I was tempted to open the sack because I couldn't remember what that hard thing on the bottom was, but thought better of it. You can get into big trouble asking too many questions. Don't seek, don't spill.