You’re a compulsive hoarder and you came to this site expecting us to tell you to clear out your home. We are not going to offer that standard, one-size fits-all advice to chuck everything away.
That’s because we understand that hoarding relieves the stress you feel inside and we want you to be at peace. So instead we are going to suggest how to live with your hoard as safely as possible.
How the Hoard Gets Bigger as You Age
The more years you live, the more possessions you accumulate especially if you remain in the same place. Your hoard grows bigger the same way a tree puts out fresh branches every year. It’s a fact of life, it is okay but you do need to learn to manage it.
We’re talking about keeping spaces clear so you can move about the house, and you can reach two different exits from anywhere inside. The reason being you never know what can happen, especially if you are living alone.
The Unfortunate End of Sim Buay Pak
Sim Buay Pak hoarded refrigerators, toilet bi-fold doors and other miscellaneous hardware, including metal items like pots and pans in his Singapore flat. When a fire started he remembered he had blocked the outside doors.
So he retreated into the toilet to escape the heat while breathing through a pipe out the window. This might have worked except the metal items he piled high were so hot the firefighters could not reach him before the smoke choked his lungs.
The Other Side of Sim Buay Pak’s Problem
Sim Buay Pak was getting on in years and would have benefited from a carer he could have had if he had asked. At the time of the fire, the electricity and water were off because he forgot to pay the bills.
The fire may have started when he knocked a candle over, or something fell over onto a cigarette butt he forgot. The firefighters could have saved him if they had water to put the fire out. Sim Buay Pak died not because he hoarded, but because he did not organize his hoard.
What You Could Do to Avoid This Happening to You
We are not here to tell you how to live your life. However, you may like to think of moving your collection around a bit, so you can reach the windows and doors through passages between your stuff.
Buy some painters masking tape at the hardware store next time you go shopping. Then use it to mark those exit routes, so you remember not to block them as you add new items to your collection.
Perhaps, just perhaps you could ask us to remove some of the older stuff for a fee, before you run out of space to hoard safely. We’ll make sure it goes for recycling one way or the other. It won’t be wasted that way, in fact it will find a new purpose in life which should be the future of every hoard.
