Hey guys. I have a confession to make - I'm secretly a hoarder.
Well, not to the extent that I've seen some people be, but I've always collected things. I collected pens and notebooks as a kid (who am I kidding, I still do) and for a while during my pre-teen years I collected empty Kleenex boxes and toilet paper rolls with the intent that I'd make something out of them. I did, with a few of them, but the rate of my collecting was far greater than the rate of my making, so we had a cupboard full of random junk that I was very stubborn about not throwing away.
My dad eventually threw them away.
Now that I'm in college and living in my own space, I'm astounded at how I manage to find nooks and crannies to hide all my things when I really don't have very much storage space. Things just collect over time; random junk that you keep convincing yourself is important or has too much sentimental value to throw away.
On the other end of my hoarding tendencies is my anxiety over messy spaces. I don't mind other people being messy, but I can't really handle messiness in my own living space (this comes from my dad. You know, the guy that threw out all of my Kleenex boxes because he's like this too?) and so once in a while I'll go through my stuff to clean up and reorganize.
I love reorganizing. Nothing brings me more joy - well, except food, and sleep, and Hera, and... - than to find designated spaces for each and every thing and to keep them there. I am the kind of person that gets annoyed when the can opener turns up in a drawer different from the one it's always lived in. I am the kind of person that likes to have all my pens categorized and my wires and cables sorted into little zip lock baggies. I am... well you get it. I like things to be neat.
This past weekend I took on the task of reorganizing all of the junk I have in my room. I haven't tackled my closet yet (I did a couple months ago, and will probably do so again sometime in the next few weeks) but I did get rid of a garbage bag full of stuff, and a bit more. I got rid of so many papers (because why will I ever need my tests from freshman year again?) and pens that no longer write that it felt so liberating. I reorganized my bookshelves so that everything is more compact and now my collection of wrapping stuff - like boxes, and tissue paper, and other random knick knack that people need for christmas wrapping - is no longer homeless and strewn on the floor but actually part of my bookcases, with its own little section.
The hardest part of all of it was convincing myself to throw away some models and some modeling materials. While throwing out pens and papers had been easy, I have formed an emotional attachment to all of my architecture studio models and their associated things. It's not hard to be attached like that - after all, I did spend many hours building all of these models and all of them have very specific memories attached to them - mostly of being really tired, but also of those professors and experiences. Many of these models I look at and see the hours I put into it, and it always seems like such a waste to just... throw it away.
I threw away three models. I threw away three models that were associated with my last studio, a studio that thinking about still gives me headaches and makes me feel like a panic attack is coming. I threw away the last portion of the model that I had spent over 48 hours nonstop sitting and gluing and folding and crying over, and taking it out of its place to throw it away hurt because I still remember all of the pain from that class but throwing it away also felt so good. It felt like I was liberating myself from the demons of that class and I know I'm being totally over-dramatic but that class, god, that class really, really was awful. The final project was a good one - one that I'm almost proud of, maybe - but the journey there had been so awful. I suppose part of me will eventually be grateful because I learned to be stronger from it, but I don't think I've had enough time pass to look back and not have feelings of resentment rise up within me.
And after it was all gone - the trash taken out, permanently outside of my home - my room felt so nice and clean and good to be in - not that it hadn't been nice and clean and good to be in before, but it's better now - and I can look at that section in my bookcase that once housed three models which reminded me of a horrible experience and smile because it now houses wrapping paper, and paints, and canvases, and happy things still waiting for me to work on.
Plus, it's nice to know that I won't have as much to throw out when I eventually move out of this apartment.
Are you guys also hoarders / collectors of random things? Do you ever go through times of just wanting to clean stuff and throw stuff out? Let me know!
Anyone who knows me is aware that I have a slightly obsessive personality, am a bit of a hoarder (but only useful things! like pens and clothes and makeup and art supplies!), and have a bit of a shopping problem.
What can I say? I like buying clothes and makeup and trying out new styles!
Over each summer in my life, I've always traveled away and taken a small carry-on suitcase with me. I'm really good at packing and taking not many things. I scoff in the face of all those How To Pack a Suitcase videos and tutorials on Youtube. This past summer when I went back to China, I did the same - and realized how nice it felt to only have a few staple pieces to choose from and try out different ways of pairing clothes. (On Pinterest, I think this is called a capsule wardrobe.)
So when I came home to my apartment in Boston, I decided I needed to clean out my life.
No, not people. Friends, I still love all of you. Don't be silly.
I started with my wardrobe. I know everyone says to take everything out of your closet first and then put back the things you reach for first - I didn't do that because I'm such a rebel.
Turns out I'm very familiar with what I wear on a regular basis and what I don't. I grabbed all the clothes that I knew I didn't wear, and then did a second sweep with things I was unsure about. Goodbye, all the uncomfortable career fair t-shirts that I don't know why I kept. You won't be missed.
I ended up getting rid of 2 garbage bags full of clothes. I also got rid of my hair styling appliances (hairdryer and curling iron) because I don't use them. Hooray for having easy to deal with hair!
I later was sad that I got rid of my hairdryer for the sole purpose of breaking in my black flats that were slightly painful. I ended up just sucking it up and wearing them. They don't give me blisters anymore, for anyone who's wondering. So I didn't need the hairdryer anyway.
I also went through my makeup drawers, which was ridiculously fun to go through. I did a makeup clean out a few months ago, and it hasn't completely gotten out of hand yet (again), so I decided I would only go through my lipsticks (which somehow I had accumulated, in a few months, a lot. Let's just leave it at a lot of lipsticks).
I ended up throwing away half of them. It wasn't hard - I had a lot of repeat colors and also a lot of lippies I'm pretty sure were expired or well on their way to expiring. Oops. I did end up having a full arm of lipstick swatches though, which was super fun and also hazardous for the cleanliness of everything in the apartment.
Finally, I got rid of a bunch of my papers that I'd been holding onto - like schoolwork and handouts and stuff. Well, it's senior year.
I get to get rid of that stuff now.
Trust me, throwing away handouts is a lot more exciting and good-feeling than it sounds like.
Now it actually feels a lot nicer. I still have quite a few pieces of clothing, but more manageable and also all clothes that I wear (except for my corset and my flapper dress which, for obvious reasons, I couldn't part with). It makes getting dressed in the morning a lot easier, and I know whatever I reach for will be pieces that look good on me and also don't require me to suck in my tummy and stuff like that. Slob-ing around in presentable clothing for the win!
Its the same with my makeup - picking out lipstick colors is way easier now that I have fewer, and I've rediscovered lipsticks that I may or may not have forgotten about.
That is exactly the problem with having too much stuff. You've only got one sodding body, what are you going to put all the extra clothes and makeup on anyway?
Also, donating a lot of clothes and appliances in fairly good condition felt really awesome. I hope they find good homes.
All in all, I think my decluttering project was a success and I encourage everyone to try it too!
One of the big things I wanted to work on this IAP was decluttering my life. Before I left for Christmas Break, I realized that somehow over the past 6 and a half years (boarding school + college) of being in the States, I had accumulated a ridiculous amount of stuff: clothes, makeup, art supplies, pens.... and it was overwhelming.
So last weekend, I finally sat down and went through all my makeup. At some point in high school, I had gotten super into playing around with makeup (I did my final AP Painting and Drawing concentration on theatrical makeup! Examples can be seen in the photography section of my portfolio, and the artistic recreations in the studio art section) and because of that, had palettes and shadows and lipsticks just lying around waiting to be used, and since they were ridiculous bright colors, they really were just collecting dust. I ended up piling everything on the floor, sorting everything into categories (eyes, cheeks, powders, lips, etc), tossing all the stuff that had expired, and gave away most of the stuff I didn't use to my friends. After doing so, I felt awesome, and it's pretty refreshing to be able to reach into my little plastic drawers and pinpoint exactly what I want quickly and efficiently in the morning when I'm slapping my face on.
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| Hi, I'm Cecile and I have (had!) a problem. This is most of the stuff I had, sorted in piles on the floor! I'm proud to say that I've reduced it by more than 50% |
I then also reorganized all my t-shirts and tank-tops by folding them and stacking them vertically, which helps me see all the items at once. (I usually keep my shirts folded like this, it just slowly deteriorates as the semester goes.) Hopefully this way I can show approximately equal amounts of love to all my clothes, instead of always reaching for that "They see me rolling, they hatin" narwhal t-shirt from the last career fair that's always on the top of the pile.
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| look at all my neatly folded tshirts! cross your fingers and hope it stays like that. Can you spot the narwhal t? |
I've always been a bit of a hoarder - why throw something away when I paid money for it, right?? - but I've found that decluttering has really helped with my mental state - I guess living in a disordered room can lead to having a disordered mind. I'm also just kind of super OCD sometimes, so having everything in my environment super neat is really helpful. My next decluttering project is to go through all my pens and just throw stuff out.
How do you feel about decluttering, or are you secretly a hoarder too?
