I have a hard time mostly parting with paper, all sorts of paper (my children's schoolwork and art work; mail - all kinds, letters and emails that I've printed out and cannot part with; cards - birthday cards, anniversary cards, valentine cards, postcards; receipts; old documents - paperwork from apartments I rented before I was even married 18 years ago, documents from old homes we've owned but since sold, car titles on cars I don't own anymore, old handwritten journals that I haven't cracked open in years, old novel manuscripts or elaborate outlines for novel manuscripts that I'm never going to finish, poetry I wrote years ago that even I don't understand anymore, etc., etc., etc.,). I also have a hard time tossing objects/things/items that trigger nostalgia or memories of a former time in my journey in this crazy life of mine. Also items that I feel could be useful even if I'm not using them currently and probably won't be in the near future (old binders, spiral notebooks, construction paper, art and craft supplies).

I have papers mostly concentrated in my bedroom both out and about (on top of dressers) or stuffed away into drawers or stuffed in the closet. There's some stuffed in some drawers in the kitchen, the rest is in the garage. Without my hubby who is NOT a hoarder (quite the opposite) my paper problem would probably be ten times worse.

The non-paper items that I hoard are mostly stuffed in various bags in my closet and in my garage and in my attic. Some of those items are stuffed in drawers in my bedroom too...

My biggest problem with parting with the paper, so to speak, is all these elaborate rituals I feel have to be performed before I can actually throw the papers away. When it comes to mail, especially, I feel like I need to go through each and every piece and make sure any part that has my name or address on it is shredded. When you've built up as much mail as I have, this takes FOREVER and it's exhausting! Even when it comes to my children's old schoolwork that I am willing to part with, I have to make sure that the part that I toss doesn't have their name on it anywhere and if I find their name anywhere on the paper, I have to shred it...

It doesn't help that approximately 14 years ago one of the worse things that can happen to an anxiety-ridden, hoarding-prone individual such as myself happened. I was a victim of identity theft. I found myself sitting in court at 8 months pregnant (with my middle son) with my lawyer on one side and my husband on the other to keep from going to jail behind elaborate charges the thief made on my card to Home Depot. I was already scared in theory of identity theft thus the paper rituals but when it actually happened to me, I became much worse.

Going through non-paper items triggers a "trip down memory lane" so to speak and I get very little done when all is said and done. I also wind up "churning" rather than "purging" (just find a new hidey hole for stuff I'm unable to part with).

I wish I could just take a giant trash bag and dump all of it inside and take it as far away from house as possible so I can have a fresh start. So much easier said than done as you all well know.

Thanks for reading; God Bless.