Happy independence (from hoarding) day! Wherever you are in your hoarding odyssey, I send you hope, love, and wishes for liberation from what can feel like an inescapable burden. You have it within you to transform those hoarding tendencies into different behaviors that bring you more pleasure or—at the very least—do not cause you physical or emotional pain. Please know that there are people, including me, who care about you. You don’t have to do this alone: There are organizations,…
Are you wondering what to buy a hoarder for Christmas? Maybe you’re facing the dilemma of what to get for the person who has three of everything. When choosing what to get a hoarder for Christmas or any other occasion, it helps to keep a few key characteristics in mind: If you can select a gift for a hoarder that fits any of these three criteria, you can be relatively comfortable that you aren’t going to make matters worse for…
Healing Requires Change on Many Levels Fully confronting your hoarding tendencies can lead to deep ancestral healing. Overcoming hoarding behavior requires a lot of physical changes, such as removing things from your living space and stopping or slowing down how many items you acquire. There are also the psychological shifts that are required in order to address whatever your root cause is for attaining and retaining so many things. Beyond the individual emotional shifts that you’re making, I firmly believe…
Dealing with Depression and Hoarding Depression sucks. Simple statement, but not a simple experience. When you’re coping with a hoard or wrestling with your own hoarding tendencies, there are likely going to be times that feel pretty dark and bleak, maybe even hopeless. SPECIAL NOTE: If you are feeling suicidal, please immediately go to the end of this post for links and phone numbers to connect with suicide hotline counselors who can provide immediate support, or please contact your local…
I’ve been recovering from surgery for the past couple of months and thinking a lot about how hoarding relates to health and hearth. Namely, once your health gets out of whack, it’s easy for your hearth to follow suit. That truth reminded me yet again how important it is to get my affairs in order while I’m still physically and mentally able to do so. Good Health Isn’t Guaranteed For the first month of recovery, I couldn’t even push a…
Hot diggity damn. It’s hard to believe that 3 years ago today I published my first post on this blog about hoarding. I had so much fear around being vulnerable and sharing my hoarding experiences that this blog almost never happened. Were it not for the support of my husband, brother, friends, and stellar friend / former coach / all-around business & brand magic creatrix Sanja Avramovic, “Life Is No Object” never would’ve seen the light of day. I’m so…
This will sound contradictory, but hoards remove your sense of ownership. At least, they do when you’re living in someone else’s hoard. There are the obvious physical pitfalls of a hoard, such as a diminished ability to move freely, no space to put anything, dusty air, and dirty surfaces. There are intangible downsides as well. One of them is a lack of sovereignty over your possessions. When Your Space Is Not Your Own I’ve written before about how my family’s…