Diary of a Mad Pack Rat

I am an admitted pack rat, and I am okay with it. According to Brian Tracy, ppl who are pack rats usually result from poor/wanting childhoods, which psychologically speaking makes SOME sense. I been traumatized by my parents throwing away most of my favorite toys, comics, drawings etc..... coincidentally all the things I've built my lifestyle and career off of, THANKS MOM N DAD!!!! (I'M NOT BITTERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!) My philosophy has always been, "I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it" which is why I believe about 9 out of 10 guys walk around with condoms........that and one of the most painful experiences in life is turning down "the occasion" bc you are ill prepared (side note: be weary of anyone in that situation who willingly wants to proceed, but that's another conversation).

I therapeutically purged (can't exactly call what I did "cleaning") my room and over the course of a few months, culminating in the last weeks of 08. I threw away well over 3 full sized garbage bags, donated 4 bags of old clothes and more on a more impressive note, recycled SEVEN FRICKEN LARGE SIZED CLEAR PLASTIC BAGS OF PAPER!!! What the hell? Was I secretly running a printing press/accounting firm in my sleep?!!!

I was deterred many a time bc I feared that I "needed" these things. What I finally had the strength and courage to realize is, I don't NEED these "things" what I needed was some BLASTED SPACE!!

Here's how it went down:

First of all, a paper shredder is a God-send. Everyone should own one. It's just divine. Make it a part of your routine. That being said, amongst the POUNDS of paper I shredded, here's just SOME of what I found:

Receipts - THROW THEM OUT!! And if you fear being audited throw out anything over 3 yrs.
Movie stubs - Can you believe I had every (99.99999999%) movie for every movie I seen since 1996!!!? Including, Godzilla - the atrocious remake, Titanic - made me laugh as much when I saw it as I did in the theater back in '98.
Pay stubs - I had pay stubs from 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005...............2004? 2002? 2000?? 99?? 98??!! 95!!?!?!
Menus
Notes and documents from old jobs
Flyer
Semester syllabus', welcome letters and other bs mail from college
And the biggest one of all - JUNK MAIL!! Credit card offers out the wahzooooooo

Next Chapter, I'll discuss some hilarious flashbacks and how I managed to cope with parting from my past.