Haunted by Stuff
Get that Stuff Away from Me
I was listening to the “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast today where they talked about the differences between the people who like to be surrounded by stuff, versus those who don’t.
I’m—definitely—the latter.
I know that this is because I was raised by a hoarder and the amount of stuff took over our home dwellings and it became overwhelming and chaotic.
I prefer the minimalism and for there to be less clutter.
I come by this honestly, as my mother would say, but it’s not entirely her fault either. I am not a very organized person, at all.
I learned early that, even though I was a sentimental/nostalgic, that I was not organized and clean and structured enough to maintain a lot of stuff. I also realized how much stuff can take over your life.
It’s interesting to me, because I have friends who are just like me and then others who prefer to call themselves “collectors,” though relatives may refer to them as hoarders. Others who like to buy in bulk because of the economic system, culture, and era in which they were raised.
I was struck by Glennon Doyle’s comment, that she was haunted by too much.
Haunting is a rather extreme word but I completely agree with it as well. I too feel haunted when I am surrounded by too much shit, clutter and stuff everywhere.
It made me wonder how much of this preference is innate, inherently a part of us/within us, and how much of it is a result of our emotional inheritance, our upbringing, what worked or didn’t work for our parents and our home situation
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