All A-hoard
living and dying with stuff
The mental patient I live with owns 75 pairs of shoes, 120 shirts, 76 pairs of shorts and pants, and God only knows how many drawers full of socks. I think he should consider himself very fortunate that I did not include a photo of his closet in the header of this writing. I am not joking (I’m not a joker), I counted every item of clothing and every shoe - let’s discuss…
Many years ago, I used to do a little real estate on the side. These “clothes-people” cannot - or shall I say, should not - buy a house in the charming older neighborhoods because older homes do not have walk-in closets. Perhaps you have been to an open house in one of these charming older homes that I am referring to. If so, you would notice if a “clothes-person” has previously lived there because they have managed to turn an entire room into a walk-in closet.
It would be a good advertising technique to put a “closet-room!” sign out next to the For Sale sign similar to the “home with pool” sign for houses with a pool.
I recently joined a girlfriend of mine to see the documentary CatVideoFest2026. If you love cats, you likely watch cat videos on Insta and YouTube. It’s the same thing but on the big screen. The CatFest was fine, but what struck me was the Japanese guy who made video content of his two cats by holding a “cat Olympics.” One of the “events” was to see which cat could better tolerate him stacking pair upon pair (upon pair) of socks onto said cat’s back. This man has a lot of socks - at the end of the cat-competition, the sock stacks were over a foot high. Why does someone need that many socks?
Why is everyone parking in the street? I notice it here in Omaha and I noticed it in Toronto last summer. Some people have beautiful homes with garages, but their BMWs are parked out in front on the street. They park in the street because their garages are full of their stuff. Not the “I’m getting ready for a garage sale” kind of stuff. It’s the “I can’t fit all of this stuff into my house” kind of stuff.
And yes, I know I have ranted about this before, but these are brand-new rants. I am not trying to give you a 5-point plan on how to stop buying stuff, or how to store your stuff, and I am not going to bring up George Carlin again.
It seems that everyone is a hoarder of something. As my Yoga-husband used to say: “That is so not Yoga, baby.”
I am now thinking about what I hoard. Or a favorite object I own. Nothing comes to mind, but I do have a storage unit. Which is what sane people do if they have stuff to store: they rent a storage unit.
In my defense of being a storage unit renter, I haven’t had my own home in five years - almost to the month. I have continually downsized over the years by 1) donating my stuff; 2) selling my stuff; or 3) giving my stuff away. I currently rent the smallest, teeniest, tiniest storage unit available in my rental building.
One of my Yoga students and I were recently discussing the inheritance of stuff. My mother and her father are deceased, so we have some experience dealing with the aftermath of their stuff. I still have 150 or so worthless Beanie Babies. They live in my storage unit. Parents - please deal with your stuff in your early 70s. We don’t want to deal with your stuff. Because we have our own stuff.
I guess I did not need to mention George C. because I am channeling him.
Blessings & Love & deal with your stuff,
Melanie