Separation Issues
Posted on January 23rd, 2008. Filed under: Daily, Rantage.I have separation issues with certain material things. This is actually the first time I’ve ever admitted it. Now I fully realize why there are certain parts of my room (and house) which look like a junkyard. The interior of my room is fairly nice, it’s not so messy (after I clean it up of course) but underneath the surface there is a potload of things that need to be thrown away, but I would definitely disagree on.
I’m fairly bipolar with the cleanliness of my room, sometimes I like it really clean (and when I say really clean it’s the real deal), other times I just don’t give a panda’s ass about how it looks like. I have this thing though, I can’t seem to throw away the little stuff which have made a certain significance in my life, be it small or big. I have those insubstantial things because each one of them gives me a certain memory that’s worth remembering and I find joy in that. It’s like a mental material diary, if I touch it, I regain memory.
I have empty and old perfume / cologne / body spray bottles because each one of them reminds me of a certain moment in my life when I wore them and which guy I was with the time, every note I passed in class between friends during high school, I have them all, I have tissues from restaurants because I had a memorable time eating there, candy bar wrappers which had sentimental value and the list goes on (this list doesn’t even amount to how much more shit there are). If some people looked at them from a different perspective they’d probably think, “Wtf is all this crap?” It’s just something that’s in me I guess, something I can’t take away. It’s also probably why I have such fascination on designed or printed boxes, so I can put all my junk stuff in it.
What would make me feel better is if someone out there would tell me they’re similarly like me or better, if they had some other bizarre things going on like this guy who auditioned in American Idol who collected nails. Eww. Tough luck? Who knows.
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Everyone has their own separation issues involving material stuff, I reckon. Take me, for instance. I always make it a point that I keep certain stuff (or what’s left of it), especially of the good-smelling variety, because, as what they say, smell is a powerful trigger to bring back memories and elicit emotions. So, yeah, I take the one-man’s-trash-is-another-man’s-treasure adage too literally and uh-huh, my olfactory preference is meticulous that way, yo.
And oh shit, that guy who managed to keep his cut nails throughout those years? Bloody fuh-reaky on so many levels. Yeeee.
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:28 pm
I can never throw anything away. I had to keep absolutely everything when I moved away, it’s all currently sitting in a box under my bed.
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:58 pm
My room is a pigsty. I’m currently having problems with throwing away empty film canisters when I have film developed. I always think, “Sayang.” But really, what use are the film canisters for me?
Yeah, I need to keep asking myself that so I can finally dispose of the fifteen empty film canisters tucked away in the corner of my room.
January 23rd, 2008 at 8:36 pm
you’re not alone juice! i’m like that too! i have a lot of boxes and envelopes here in my ‘room’ (i don’t really have a room, but there’s this room in the house that i always stay in.) every box/envelope has different things from a certain period in my life. i have candy wrappers, plastic bags, torn up paper, tickets, cologne bottles, money, tissue, disposable utensils, food boxes.. well, EVERYTHING that has sentimental value to me.
or, if they’re not in a box or an envelope, they’re carelessly strewn across the room. hahah!
i really have a hard time throwing away stuff too.. i fear that if i throw that certain item.. the memory would go with it — i don’t exactly want that happening.
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I am most definitely a pack-rat. At age 19, I still have stuffed toys all over my room that I refuse to discard. My shelves are full. And they line every wall of my room. My mom keeps pressuring me to pack it up, and make my room look more modern, but I like it. It keeps me young and carefree, I suspect!
January 23rd, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Are we twins? I felt like I was reading about myself in this entry. lol. For serious though, I’m the same way.
January 23rd, 2008 at 10:48 pm
i’m not attached to things like you, but basically i find movie tickets from four years ago in one of my drawers, old photo booth pictures that are gusot, and paper that has accumulated over the years, that i haven’t bothered to throw away.
some people have separation issues over material things - i have the “i can’t be bothered cleaning up after myself” issue.
i’m screwed for college lol
January 24th, 2008 at 2:20 am
I do the same thing. I have all my old basketball shirts from high school, and even from when i was a little kid, among other things that are in my room. I also finally came across your two new covers, they’re nice!
January 24th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Oh don’t worry, you’re not alone :P I still have my broken cellphone with me (mind you, this cellphone broke back in the Philippines - 2 years na, ahaha.) because it reminds me of so much! Hehe, I think it’s a cute gesture to keep certain stuff that reminds you of certain parts of your life. Just you know, collect in moderation, I guess?
… people collect their cut fingernails? Eh? Ewww.
January 24th, 2008 at 7:57 am
I’m exactly like that too… I keep every single thing that I think* has significant value to me (which is like everything). I recently tried to clean that junk out but I ended up keeping more than half of it. I found receipts from 1995 for godsake.
January 24th, 2008 at 8:44 am
you’re not alone too. my mom and i always argue on this, like “throw those non-sense things away!”. i keep every papers from school,receipts, also empty bottles of perfume!, notebooks, folders and all. just like a junk shop. so yeah, you’re not alone.
January 24th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
as long as you don’t keep a pile of used underwear around, i guess you’re ok.
i do the reverse. if something reminds me of a someone i’ve begrudgingly parted with, i dispose it, good memories or not.
January 24th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
This is the main reason why my room seems to be messy. Fifty percent of my drawers contains things that are plain scrap to others. I really got loads of things that have made an impact in my life, big or small. This includes my test papers in fourth year high school, chocolate wrappers, tags, graphing paper, deposit slips, empty ball pens, and many more.
January 24th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
All understandable except.. candy bar wrappers. Juice! Not on! Haha, I love collecting junk. In my room I have massive 3kg coffee cans, maccas promotion signs a huge kfc bucket, a private property sign and many empty folders. But no candy bar wrappers.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Umm. Back in highschool, I picked a flower from outside my crush’s house and I kept it for the longest time.
*hangs head in shame*
January 25th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Dang I’m the same when it comes to my room. Sometimes I can’t stand seeing a mess and I love the way it looks when it’s clean but then on other days I’m like fuck this I ain’t doing shit. I’m not moving this here or putting this away. Rather, I’d just push something out of my way lol.
January 25th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
wow some one like me? then wt do u do with ur parents? I have no problem with my room. but my mom really has with it as I have with her!
January 27th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Aww this is nice. Me, I collect receipts from EVERYTHING. From Starbucks to Kenny Rogers, to Mini Stop purchases and bus tickets.
Coz I’m hoping that someday, when I examine those receipts one-by-one.. I can remember fragments of my life little by little.
Sentimental post ah.
January 30th, 2008 at 7:01 am
almost everyone wants to collect pieces of his or her memories. and those mementos are one way of keeping your memories aside from the pen and paper (and digicams).
i keep anything significant to me.
but time will come, when you really hafta let go of those things.
as yoda said on starwars, “train yourself to let go of all the things you fear to lose”
February 17th, 2008 at 2:45 am
I like my rooms clean… so I’m definitely not bipolar when it comes to “cleanliness”… but I AM BIPOLAR when it comes to “organization”. I differentiate between the two… as the first has to do with sanitary conditions, the latter being a state of “clutter”. I’m not always so great with decluttering and throwing away stuff. Sometimes, I get overly sentimental with old stuff and I end keeping them when I really shouldn’t!
But sometimes I get all weird and inspired to do a thorough cleaning, especially during Spring season. Cleaning also extend to decluttering my computer! (WHICH IS OFTEN FULL OF JUNK… I test a lot of demo software because that’s what I do for a living.)