Hi, I'm Erin

And I am a pack rat.

While I can thank my dad for a lot of great things, this is one of the less great things I got from him.  And he got it from his mother.  We're keepers of things.  Some of it meaningful.  Some of it less so. Either way, stuff can rest assured that it'll have a long and happy life with either of us.

Being a pack rat extraordinaire makes moving an interesting experience.  I have SO. MUCH. STUFF.

I recently moved twice in less than 6 weeks.

Move #1 resulted in several bags of clothes (much of it brand new stuff) being donated.  I hadn't worn it in the years I've owned it so time to send it on to someone who will.  I also got rid of some papers and whatnot that I'd been hanging onto for who knows what reason.   All in all it did lighten my load.

Move #2 didn't result in any purging.  Usually moving is the onl time I manage to get rid of stuff.   Since I didn't really unpack after the first move nothing really happened before the second.

And not much of it is actually clutter.  Well, right now my room looks like a bomb went off in it.  I don't have a closet and only have a small dresser so stuff is kinda strewn everywhere.   But I'm not one for knick knacks.  I do have a few stuffies on the shelf in my room but thats about it. 

Most of my stuff is clothes.  Realistically I only wear the same few outfits.  Why I have the rest of it I'll never know.  And why I can't get rid of the rest of it I'll never know.

There are some things I am not willing to get rid of: 
quilts made for me by my grandmothers or were handed down from them
books
photos
anything handed down from generations past

The rest of it is just stuff.  And why I feel the need to hang onto it I have no idea.

I think it started when I finally branched out on my own.  Growing up  my parents always beat it into my head that money was for saving, not for spending.  Ever.  At all.  So when I was out on my own making my own money I had control (or lack there of) over when it got spent, how much of it, and on what.   Needless to say I went a little hog-wild.  I was finally able to buy stuff when I wanted to and had no one to answer to for it.   We didn't grow up poor or anything so its not like we didn't have things as kids.  We just didn't have those parents that bought you stuff just because.  I grew up gettign handmedowns from cousins.  If clothes could be bought second-hand they were.  We had toys as kids, but weren't up to our eyeballs in them.  So we had things, just enough things to make living comfortable.  I now buy stuff just because. 

And now I can't get rid of it. 

Because I am renting the majority of my stuff is in my room.  And because I have next to no storage space in here its messy which makes me anxious.  Isn't your bedroom supposed to be a calm, peaceful environment?  Yeah, right.