Personal blog of christian
writer & fallible mom
Katy McKenna Raymond
in Kansas City, Missouri
Katy is represented by
Greg Johnson at
WordServe Literary
Read more Katy at
LateBoomer.net
Recent Posts
- Try
- Becoming Brenda Starr
- Off Beat
- Scattered
- That’s It
- So I’ve Finally Signed With An Agent. Now What?
- The Spoon
- Sciatica
- Sweetheart
- A Woman’s Train of Thought Has No Caboose
- However much we own, we are all still living on borrowed time
- After all, when restaurants shrink portions, they don’t shrink prices.
- As with everything in life, balance is key.
- Slow down, you move too fast…
- Yeah, I know. I have issues.
Syndicate
E me at katy @ ngenius.com
Oprah!
You guys! I don’t watch Oprah often, but I am Tivoing yesterday and today’s episodes.
If you are at all interested in the subject of too-much-clutter, compulsive shopping, hoarding, and being owned by your possessions, you have got to see these episodes. If you aren’t able, go to Oprah’s websites and click through the photos.
You know what fascinates me most about this empty nesting couple? The wife didn’t begin compulsive shopping and hoarding in earnest until her first child flew the coop. When the second left, things got worse. By the time the final child exited, she didn’t know how to cope with the loss. Then, in the last couple years, as two of her own siblings died, things accelerated even more, until by now she and her husband could not sleep in the same bed because THERE WASN’T ROOM.
I am endlessly intrigued with this subject, since—as you know—I’m on a never-ending mission to downsize the number while upgrading the quality of our possessions. I have a friend who used to have regular garage sales in which she unloaded her antiques and other truly valuable items for a song, while holding onto all her crap. I was mystified by her faulty logic, and I think I always have her in the back of my thinking as I work my way through our own junk.
Unlike the lady on Oprah, though, I’ve gotten a little more free of the need to hang onto stuff as the months and years go by. Still, I know I tie too much of my identity to being able to snag a great bargain, even if I have no use for it whatsoever. These days, I enjoy shopping for baby outfits marked down to within an inch of their lives. When they go below a certain pre-set price, I purchase them and donate them to a local ministry. I get to experience the thrill of the hunt while making a real difference to some needy parents.
It took a team of one hundred professionals EIGHT WEEKS, under the direction of Peter Walsh, to deal with the scores of TONS of junk in this couple’s house.
If it would take a miracle to deal with yours, don’t miss these episodes!!
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