Trash and Treasure

After years of hearing about The Oprah Show, we at last got to see it.. I knew it had been aired on cable tv but I don't have cable tv and I don't want cable tv.. There isn't enough hours in the day for me to sit down and just watch tv.. So The Oprah Show began airing on local tv early this year and the first episode was the start of their 20th season/year where they had a new re-vamped studio and the first guest was Jennifer Aniston.. this episode was dated 2005 at the end credits and we are now watching episodes dated 2004 .. ???.. But never mind about that.. The Oprah Show is interesting and enlightening even if it don't run in order.. and I learned a lot from watching some of the episodes.. I learned that I probably suffer from the disorder known as "HOARDING".. As mentioned before in previous blogs, I have a lot of clutter... Now I can blame it on this disorder.. Like the woman featured in the show, I am reluctant to throw away things that I think might come in use some day... although that 'some day' probably never come.. Sometimes when I do throw away stuff, somehow or other I find that I needed that particular thing the very next day.. For example, I may throw away a box that had been lying on the shelf for the longest time, years maybe, and the very next day someone will ask if I have a box that can be used to, say, put a present in and I think - the box on the shelf.. BUT I threw that away!!
So after a few incidents like that, I started not throwing things away and then the clutter begun to pile up.. I've got a lot of stuff that are momentos of my girls' childhood but I think they are probably in a horrible state... I couldn't see what their conditions are because these things are stored in boxes which are at the bottom of the pile...
Two or three years ago I was at the library when I came across this book about clutter and how to get rid of it, and following the advice, I managed to throw away some things, but only about 10% of what should be gotten rid of... I was still hanging on to things.. like socks that had lost their pardners... Why don't I ever throw them away?? Maybe one day I will pair them up?? So far it didn't happen.. Now after watching the Oprah show, I find that I may be sick in the head..
In one of the shows, where the ugliest room in America was featured, the room was re-vamped but someone wanted the 'ugly' furniture and Oprah quoted the phrase : "one man's trash is another man's treasure"... So true... A lot of people also think that my stuff is trash... So on to another story...
About three weeks ago, somebody living in the same block of flats as my father, moved away and they threw out a lot of things... At first I was eyeing a small table to put by my bed.. I saw the table when I was on my way out, to have dinner... So on the way back with CMW, I told her of the table and my wanting to take it back but when I took a closer look, it was a bit worned so I decided not to take it... besides that, there were other people around and they were rummaging through the "junk"... I took a peek at what was thrown out and saw books - cookbooks and books on patchwork and crochet and knitting!! How could people throw away books!! Especially when my favourite pastime is crocheting and making patchwork blankets and my daughter's favourite thing is cooking... We gathered as much of the books as we can carry and there was also a box of cloth patches, all cut up into 5 inch squares... My younger daughter will probably scream when she read this... more "junk" but they are MY treasures... I have no regrets being a "garang-guni" that night... We were cleaning the books, (they were quite dusty), and talking when I mentioned that there were also books on Shakespeare's plays, the text-book type, and CMW said we should go get that also, but we were too late... somebody else got those books but our second trip down to the "junkpile" was also fruitful... we got a bag of crochet wool still in the TAH CHUNG EMPORIUM plastic bag!! CMW wanted to keep the bag but I think there's a limit to what we are doing... And when I told my brother of our exploits, he got more crochet books that were discarded by people staying in the housing apartments where he work and gave them to me... I'm so happy with these new books... Can't understand why people would throw away books... if they are no longer useful, books should be given to the library or a community centre... some other people may want them... So when I should die and nobody want my books, somebody please give them to the libray..
I have also been clearing away the clutter in our house... As mentioned before, I was bringing stuff over to my father's house... mostly magazines and bills and letters... I have sent those that I don't want to keep, to the re-cycling centre... Luckily Singapore had become more environmentally aware and there is more re-cycling... It makes it easier for me to get rid of unwanted things, sending them for re-cycling and not to landfills... I didn't want to throw away stuff because I think they might come in use one day, but if they are re-cycled then they have another use... I don't know if people understand what I'm getting at, but just blame it on the "hoarding" mentality...
It's a slow process and there's a long way to go but one day I will get there... I sound like a tired old record but then again I am tired and old and the weather isn't helping... Got a sinus problem and a headache coming on... Need to listen to music... YOU KEEP ME HANGING ON...