Hoarding...not just on TV

Byatt

Cat501 wrote: »

Thanks Byatt! I've had to make some quick trips down to the bins though to make sure I couldn't change my mind about anything!!:D

I'm rewarding myself with a glass of wine now. I'm a little scared that now I've stopped for the night those last 3 boxes will stay for another few years so I'll keep on coming to this thread (and messies) for motivation

Good for you, although I know that feeling of being afraid you might lose motivation. As you say though, keep coming on here. :A

Brighton_belle

blossomhill wrote: »

Like now, someone should say "why have you got a lilo and a tent under your bed?"

So, Blossom... why have you got a lilo and a tent under your bed?:D

blossomhill_2

Funny you should ask!

Oh lots of reasons *whistles*

...because there is no longer room in wardrobe since I hung up all my clothes

...because I am not out camping (haven’t been for 10 years!)

...because I have yet to freecycle it

...because I was about to take it to the tip and noticed that the base part would make a handy tarp

...because I might keep the pegs for the gazebo

... because the guy ropes might be handy for something

...because there are mice in the shed

Oh lots of excuses*whistles*

GreyQueen

Byatt wrote: »

Me too...:o:rotfl:

When I look at my stuff in CS's I have to stop myself buying it back! :eek::o

Another thing I find, is that if something has "sold" on it, I wonder how I could have missed it! It always seems more enticing. I "stalked" a woman around the recycling centre once, hoping she'd put down what she had in her hand...she did, I looked at it, and then didn't want it anymore! What's that all about?! .

Evening, hun, this called to mind something I read in a book about obsessive consumerism, wish I could recall which.

The author was writing about the phenomenon of how you might be in a shop. You see a jacket. You weren't particularly looking for a jacket, it just happened to catch your eye. Maybe you touch it a bit, maybe you try it on. You put it back and start to walk away.

Then you see someone else pick it up. Your mind goes; That's my jacket! They've got my jacket! You fret and worry about this whereas 5 minutes before you hadn't the slightest intention of buying a jacket and now you are all emotionally-invested in it. Heck, if they put it back again, you may well snatch it up and buy it just to get out of this uncomfortable feeling of having had your treasure taken from you.

Deep in the depths of the oldest parts of our brains, we're greedy monkeys. We want things. We want things we don't need, haven't got room for, can't afford etc etc. We want them truly, madly and deeply. Until we get them, whereupon we probably will quickly lose interest and move onto the next thing.

The trick is not to beat up your greedy monkey-self but to let the upper layers of your brain engage in rational thought. Give yourself permission to want stuff..........and to release stuff.

It's taken me a long time to give myself permission to see, touch, admire and WALK AWAY from things. There's an awful lot of attractive stuff out there. I'm artistic and appreciate beautiful things. I have what fits in my tiny flat and if I want more, I'll have to eject something to make space for it. I'm allowed to like something, even really like something, and walk away from it. The want-reflex is just that, a reflex, and you can train yourself to think past it. Half an hour after the walkaway, I can barely recall whatever it was I was getting into a tizz about. It's almost pre-junking.... getting rid before getting it home.

Brighton_belle wrote: »

So, Blossom... why have you got a lilo and a tent under your bed?:D

I wanna know why, too.

I have, under my bed a quantity of tinned goods, on rolling trollies. This is because my kitchen is very small and my cupboards hold stuff like plates and pots and pans. Plus a small suitcase and a slightly-larger rolling holdall. There's still empty space under there but I need to have somewhere that's available in case of a crisis. Some poor people don't know where their next meal is coming from.....and then there's me. Tinned tommies, anyone? I also have pies and peaches and tuna and sweetcorn.:rotfl:

My tent is on my chest-of-drawers, along with a shopping bag of bar soap and a 1950s cake tin filled with bits and bobs. Haven't got a lilo.......sob. Tend to borrow a thermarest from a pal if I need one.

lostinrates

We have a lilo too. But we do plan to use it. What we cannot find is the inflatable dinghy. Which has been very useful ipn the past, as both a bed and a bath.

Byatt

GQ, thanks, that's really helped. :A

Cat501

GreyQueen that's a GREAT idea about storing tins under the bed - I've got two of those rolling trollies under my bed going to waste - not any more!!:D

I meant to store towels in them but the fear of spiders making a home in them put me off

Brighton_belle

blossomhill wrote: »

Funny you should ask!

Oh lots of reasons *whistles*

...because there is no longer room in wardrobe since I hung up all my clothes
welldone!

...because I am not out camping (haven’t been for 10 years!)
so no camping for 10 yrs - sounds like a case of hanging on to the person you were not the person you are now?

...because I have yet to freecycle it
do you want to freecycle it and just haven't got round ot it?

...because I was about to take it to the tip and noticed that the base part would make a handy tarp
Do you have plans for a tarp right now, or is this a case of everyone neds a tarp, just in case...

...because I might keep the pegs for the gazebo.
Does your gazebo need pegs. Do you ever use the gazebo? And you can still freecycle a peg free tent...

... because the guy ropes might be handy for something
MMmmmm, so they might...

...because there are mice in the shed
Good. Sheds are like attics - a horribly handy reaon to keep things you are not using 'just in case'

Oh lots of excuses*whistles*

P.S. we have a tent in the attic that hasn't been used in years...:D

Brighton_belle

Really great 'acknowledging the craving and walk away' psychology Grey Queen. Another means of avoiding buying stuff you didn't know you needed is to not go to the shops as a hobby/activity.

I have had to curb my hobby of browsing charity shops.

Byatt

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Really great 'acknowledging the craving and walk away' psychology Grey Queen. Another means of avoiding buying stuff you didn't know you needed is to not go to the shops as a hobby/activity.

I have had to curb my hobby of browsing charity shops.

It is a great psychology isn't it. I know I become very stressed about craving something and leaving it behind. It's partly a rescue thing too I think for me. I rescue things. I shall practise acknowledging and walking away. I do of course walk away many times, but like I said it stresses me. Panic attacks.

I hope to have more meaningful hobbies once I have some space.