I have a friend who has the same sort of hoarding tendencies that I have. We both have huge issues with throwing away paper items for various reasons. The result is the same though, homes that are cluttered with various papers on top of dressers, crammed into boxes in closets, in our garages, etc.

But the huge difference between me and my friend is that I desperately want to clear out my home and rid myself of all these papers everywhere but my friend has resigned herself to the fact that she will never be able to part with her beloved papers and she has made peace with that. She keeps her growing collection stuffed mostly in her closet and just doesn't focus on it at all. She is content and just feels free to be and live her life.

Me, on the other hand, is terrified of winding up like my aunt (my mom's sister) who is in her 80s and cannot even move around her house without fear of tripping and falling and breaking a bone or two due to having so much paper clutter. I'm not to her degree but I can see where if I don't get a handle on this, I will get to her level. I tell myself that being aware if half the battle but it's still a real source of anxiety for me (and believe you me, I have more than my fair share).

But I say all this to say that I cannot lie, some part of me is envious of my friend who has the same paper hoarding problem that I have but none of the stress and anxiety that I have. As I watch her I feel like I wish I could either fix my life by either throwing out all this paper junk so I can breathe or stop worrying about it and live with the paper junk like she has also so I can breathe. She has picked a side and she is fine while I am a hot mess!