HOARDERS!

New thing of today, watched the first episode in the season of Hoarders. I was really excited when I found out it was on our Netflix instant view. I am fascinated and amazed. I think we all have a natural pack-rat tendency to keep things for future use. This is obviously an extreme version.

It's so hard watching people who cannot let things go. There was woman in the first episode who wanted to keep expired food, over a year old. The lady needs a class in nutrition. She wanted to keep frozen ricotta from 2007. She kept eggs in the fridge for a year because they were too pretty to eat. She was once poor and couldn't afford food so she's gone overboard with hoarding food.

Anyone who has moved knows it's hard to sort through things and figure out what needs to stay or go. I get very sentimental and attached to things. We also have a smaller place and need to minimize in order to maximize - less is more. I've travelled and lived with a just a suitcase amount of stuff for about a month. I've gone camping over the summer with one duffel bag. I think I've been lucky enough to have experiences that show me that, stuff isn't needed to survive. These people though, they are emotionally and psychologically connected to their things.

I think it's a shame that the show - at least this episode, doesn't try to deal with this issue more psychologically. Instead they just deal with the organization of it and a crew to come in and move/get rid of things. They document the extreme sad situation the hoarders are in, but not really helping them get a fix on how to prepare their mind for fixing the problem. I think the show Clean Sweep does a better job of helping people deal psychologically with - ok how to keep and what to keep. Keeping half versus all and just moderating and balancing a clutter issue.

The music and tone of the show is incredibly dark and over dramatic as well. I was actually disappointed by the show. I though they would do a better job helping the problem. Instead they sort of just put a band aid on it and just bring trucks and people to help move things out. They don't really help hoarders where they need it, in their habits and mindset. I find they just put the hoarders under an unpleasant humiliating spotlight, rather than focus on helping change them. Maybe in later episodes the tone changes, but not this first one. An overall it gets an "eh" for my rating. Not really worth 40 minutes of time. I could probably clean the house with this in the background as good motivation :) That's probably what I'll do next time.

A friend asked me today - how is the blogging going, one new thing a day? It's been 30 days just about :) Some of it is a chore honestly. I don't always have a "new thing tried or done" by evening time, so I sort of have to come up with something or try something or watch something or eat something. Plus it's a bit of a chore to blog about it too. Although overall I think it hasn't been bad at all. I am thinking/hoping that if I can maintain discipline with this writing blog, I can maintain it with other things like school, cleaning, exercise and other areas of my life.

I've planned out a few new things in advance. I bought a bunch of snacks and drinks to try. I have TV shows and movies queued up on Netflix. I've had some activities in mind. Although I think the biggest change is when it comes to making decisions at that moment. I find myself more willing to try new things and putting my adventure shoes on. I never realized how much I cling to the familiar or get anxiety about trying new things.

I suppose my expectations are overly high in general, so in trying new things I'm overly resistant of being disappointed. Although I'd say 80% of things go well and only 20% are a waste. Plus if they're a waste, I learn from them anyway :)

I suppose the show Hoarders is an apt 30 day post. I'm not hoarding onto old familiar experiences and repeating them. I'm trying new things every day. I suppose I should get more creative with my "new things" posts. That's definitely something new I can work on :) This is definitely going to continue and I've enjoyed it so far!