Paper hoarding was a big one for me. When I first started on my "purging stuff" work, one of my strategies was to group all like items together. It kind of helped to wrap my head around how much of it I had. And WOW did I have a lot of paper. Like, a closet full. And no, I'm not being hyperbolic.
It was definitely a trauma-anxiety response for me; I was told by a psychologist I had OCD but I consider myself cured of that now because I don't really engage in those behaviors anymore. Like, I'm still a little anal, not gonna lie, but nothing like I was. At one point in my life, I was counting my breaths or my blinks. It was bad.
These days, purging stuff feels really good, whereas when I started it was like pulling teeth. It's true what they say, that it's like building muscle - it gets easier the more you practice. :)
!LUV
Oh, I'm sure you're not being hyperbolic. I learned in counseling — many years ago — that my propensity for writing things down on note paper or in endless journals had a lot to do with "not feeling seen" as a kid (and beyond) so I would "record" my life and things that happened as a sort of proof to myself that I actually existed.
I still have a walk-in closet that contains moving boxes, some of which have not been opened in 15 years. Most of them contain "records" of something or other. I'm slowly unpacking them and getting rid of the contents. My local bank runs a "free security shredding" service once a quarter, and I have a deal with myself to always take something to every one of these.
Ooh that sounds like a good strategy to keep yourself chipping away at it, re: the shredding!
@denmarkguy, @faeriestories(1/1) sent LUV. | connect | community | HiveWiki | NFT | <>< daily
! help(no space) to get help on Hive. Info