Inheritance Hoarding

At the end, all that's left of you are your possessions. Perhaps that's why I've never been able to throw anything away. Perhaps that's why I hoarded the world: with the hope that when I died, the sum total of my things would suggest a life larger than the one I lived.
― Nicole Krauss

Hoarding can never end, for the heart of man always covets for more, its raging appetites can only be quenched by the heavy sands of the grave.
― Bangambiki Habyarimana

The more space they, hoarders, have available, the more space they fill. Perhaps this is actually the goal--to fill space.
― Randy O. Frost

Once upon a time I thought I was going to be an artist. My father and friends thought so too. I even had the school I was going to go to all picked out. But for one reason and another, I didn’t. I never lost my love of art though, and I have a closet full of art supplies to prove it.

On the weekend I helped my father-in-law clean out the room holding my baker’s rack – I was happy to do it because it means I’ll be taking possession of the rack as soon as his neighbor with the truck is available. Anyway, this room was the one my mother-in-law used as her art studio.

As well as stacks of paintings, there was a great deal of art supplies – some of which had never been used. Since the point was to get rid of stuff, I ended up bringing a large box of it home.

This is the box I brought home, not the stuff I kept. I kept a set of unopened oil paints, a book on tips for painting with acrylics, and some brushes, and patted myself on the back for showing such restraint.

Some day, my daughter will have to go through my art closet and I’m sure she’ll be appalled at the amount of art supplies I’ve been hoarding – most of which have never been used. Which begs the question, if I’m not using them, why am I keeping them?

This is a question every hoarder faces at one time or another. And the answer is, because some day I might. Every once in awhile I find myself doodling, which leads to sketching, but I haven’t actually painted in several years, mainly because I don’t really have any place I can do it. I just took over one room for crafts, I can’t take over another for art.

And speaking of crafts, another thing he gave me was the mother-in-law’s sewing box:

It needs a bit of repairing, but it’s a still a nice box. I’m not sure if I want to keep it or just fix it up and pass it to someone else. But it didn’t come empty:

I’m not sure how well you can see from the picture, but there’s all kinds of thread and some needles, zippers and elastic, and all kinds of other sewing notions. I don’t need any of it, but I’ll still have to go through it to see what’s useful and what’s not.

Again, I’m going to have to try and overcome my hoarding tendencies and keep only what I can actually use. I already have a large stash of sewing supplies (as opposed to needlework supplies).

What I’m really looking forward to is having the baker’s rack in place so I finally have some place where I can work at my crafts, like my jewelry making, within easy reach of my supplies.

Maybe I’ll finally be able to start reducing my hoard.