Packratting

Today I resolved to clean my living space. For most people this involves a little moving of a desk here, a little dusting there and a quick vacuum. I however am a pack rat.

From an early age, I was taught to name everything. A blanket became "dino blankie" a stuffed dog, "sea doggie" a car "bessie" a plant, Fred. When you name things, it is hard to get rid of them. Getting a new bedspread is no longer a cleaning ritual, it is a betrayal of a dear friend. Cleaning is hell for namers.

With this is mind I set opun my piles of ie suffixed inanimate objects with a Martha Stewart like coldness. Then it dawned on me. I would be spared much of the pain of throwing dear old friends in a plastic bag by the wonderful fog of memory. Animal after animal was picked up without the slightest memory of a title or experience, and with much lightened shoulders I put the little buggers into their sacks. Pillow pals in one pile for Ebay, everything else in another for charity.

Next came clothes, this was easy. I wear about 3 shirts and 2 pairs of jeans, so everything else was just thrown away. Having gotten rid of clothing and stuffed animals, I went after my many piles of oddities. Pack rats have this odd instinct to simply assume objects will be used later. This translates to having to find a place to store and keep such things. In order to do this with the many odds and ends that life turns up, pack ratters simply pile up every miscellaneous thing in old laundry hampers and boxes.

The resulting potpourri actually yields a pretty interesting trip down memory lane on further review. The random assortment of objects all hold little details describing small aspects of life at the time of their storage. When taken as a whole these tidbits offer a portrait of a time. This can be sad and frustrating at the same time because throwing icons of childhood brings up a certain tragic nostalgia and putting others back in their place reminds of the same task to come in another years time.

After deleting everything with arms reach and feeling more free and feng shui about my living space, I breathed a sigh of relief and waited for next year.