Confessions of a Pack Rat: I’m the kind of person who can’t throw things away. Birthday and Christmas cards? They have sentimental value. Random packs of snacks and breakfast bars? I’ve got like ten just sitting in my pantry even though I know I won’t eat them. A new book? Good luck if I read it in the next three years. It’s always “What if I need this eventually?” or “What if I want to wear this again?” which always leads to my spaces getting cluttered with junk I don’t need. The most egregious example of this is my armoire at home which genuinely has a tub of binders from 8th grade. What will I ever use those for? At what point in my adult life will I ever need to refer to my 8th-grade history notes?
Despite this bad habit, I often find myself anxious and agitated in cluttered spaces, so I’ve been going through the process of clearing out tons of this stuff recently. Spring cleaning is real. It genuinely feels so freeing to let go of things that weigh you down and you don’t need anymore. That’s something you can apply to a lot of things in life, not just material items.
Pack rats come in all shapes and sizes and to varying degrees of extremity. Some people are very well-meaning; they have a sentimental attachment to everything they save. On the other hand, I’m sure you’ve seen shows like My Strange Addiction where people have hoarded excessive amounts of ridiculous things to the point where it very negatively affects their life, which is packrattery at its absolute worst. Certain personality types tend to be more susceptible to this type of hoarding than others. More anxious, protective, or empathetic individuals can have a hard time letting things go, while materialistic and plan-oriented people tend to accumulate things that they want or for that “just in case.”
So what am I doing to Declutter my own Pack Rat mentality?
First, I’m starting with Clothing. My roommate, Iz Stokes, is a total style icon on Denison’s campus, but one of the things I most admire about them is how efficiently they use all pieces of their wardrobe. Their closet is filled with clothes that they love, that they use frequently and wear interchangeably to create a signature style while being sustainable. Aside from the fact that the majority of their closet is second-hand or thrifted, because almost every piece in their closet is used, they don’t just have clothes sitting unused in boxes cluttering up their space.
Me on the other hand… I use my entire closet space, the dresser, and some additional dressers I brought from home to fit my clothes. Plus, there are the clothes I have at home. Out of all of that, I probably frequently wear and love 60% or less. There are exceptions to be made of course–I’m not going to wear nice dresses every day, thick sweaters in summer, or tank tops in winter, but the principle remains the same. It doesn’t help that I’ve undergone a massive style discovery since coming to college, begun appreciating clothing sustainability, and recognized the importance quality fabric has on the clothes I actively enjoy wearing. All good problems to have, but now I no longer want to wear a lot of the clothes I own.
The good news is those clothes won’t waste away unworn in my closet for much longer. There are tons of resources around for packrats like me who need to thin down their wardrobe. Denison has Revival Thrift where you can donate your clothes, and it also occasionally hosts upcycling workshops to repurpose clothing. There are also service projects organizations on campus host, such as the Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority clothes drive, which you can donate to. Aside from those, local thrift stores like Goodwill or Salvation Army always take donations, which is where I’ll likely donate my clothes at home.
Other things I tend to hoard are snacks, notes and random pieces of paper, or just anything that I immediately see and think “Yes, I want this” or “What if I need this, just in case?” For this, I’m going to practice the “Does This Spark Joy” mentality, coined by Marie Kondo in her Netflix series Tidying Up. If an item sparks joy, beyond the initial buzz of seeing something new, shiny, or fluffy, and see you can really picture yourself using it and enjoying it for two years or more.
So those are my strategies to declutter my own hoarder mentality while participating in sustainability and a bit of Spring cleaning. I think maintaining a neat and clean space can really help with mindfulness, but I get that it’s sometimes hard to balance life with keeping everything organized. Just taking some time now, as school ends and the rush to pack everything begins, to orient yourself with your space and take note of what you no longer need, will help you remain mindful and less cluttered in the future. Take care!