If you watch any amount of television, I’m certain that you have noticed that there is a plethora of so-called reality shows. I say so-called because even if a show is completely non-scripted or edited, which they aren’t, people are in unnatural situations where cameras, lighting, film crews, and other artificial elements are interjected. Put a camera on me and give me an audience and I’m likely to perform in a way that is sure to embarrass my family and possibly get me Baker acted. Home improvement is a staple of the reality shows. If I had a twenty dollar bill for each one, I’d start my own network showing nothing but home improvement shows. That couldn’t cost much, right? Whatever your bent, curiosity, or fascination, there is a program for you. Admittedly, some are akin to gawking at the accident on the other side of the highway. You know you shouldn’t look, but… Hey! How about a show with motorists staring at accidents as they pass by? Pure gold, I tell you!
In the “gawking at the accident on the other side of the highway” genre, are shows about hoarding. Have you ever watched one? That question was rhetorical, BTW, because of course you have. I will refrain from targeting hoarders with my comedic trebuchet for a couple of reasons, the least of which is my sensitivity and decorum, commodities of mine that are somewhat scarce. First, hoarding is a mental disorder that destroys people and property. Second, hoarding is a mental disorder that destroys people and property. Okay, maybe I only have one reason but it is fairly compelling. We incredulously watch an episode of Hoarders, wondering how anyone could let things get that out of control. I’ll armchair psychoanalyze this one and offer my theory. A hoard doesn’t start with someone cramming a place full all at once with empty cereal boxes, balls of twine, multiple complete DVD sets of My Friend Flicka, pallets of presidential Pez dispensers, a gross of dog dishes commemorating the Peloponnesian War, and half eaten skillets of Hamburger Helper from the Bush administration. H.W, not W. This process, like most, is gradual, not obvious, until well established and difficult to reverse. Often, the hoarder is deceived, oblivious to the scope of their “collecting”, or able to rationalize it. Only through the dogged intervention of others can a hoarder get help and reduce the overwhelming mess.
We may smugly say to ourselves, “Ourselves, we’d never become hoarders.” No? How much toilet paper did you buy during the great Covid-19 shortage of 2020? Tell me about that junk drawer(s) in your kitchen. Do you really need that eight year old used up D-cell battery? The charger for your Nokia flip phone? 15 dried up pens and a pocket calculator that is missing a 7 and the +? What are you hoarding on your DVR? I like Wheel of Fortune as much as the next guy, but you’ll survive if you miss an airing or all of them. Mentally, what are you storing up in your mind? Are those images or thoughts supplanting those that honor God or your wife? While our hoards my not be as obvious to others, they can be just as destructive.
We can and must remove the unneeded, unnecessary, unhealthy things that have encroached or consumed our well being, most importantly that which is spiritual.
(Click “Stand on Firmer Ground” for a deeper look into Hoarders)