Clutter

Most of my life, I've live with more clutter than your average person. Sometimes I can master it; mostly I don't seem to. I have wondered if it was because, as the oldest of four children, I learned early to take over space. But other times, I've wondered if the problem was a kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The problem causes me intense shame; I generally refuse to let people see the inside of my home. It creates related problems: bills get lost, etc. I have quietly discussed the problem with some friends (others have been suprememly unhelpful -- "why don't you just set your house on fire?" asked one, intending to be humorous but in fact sending me to bed with depression for a three-day weekend); one recently sent me information last week about a truly useful book on the topic.

  I'd like to recommend "Buried in Treasures" by Tolin et al. The book is based on lengthy research, and the authors seem really to understand the problem. For more info, see Amazon.com or Tower.com.


More to follow, probably. -- Rachel