We all have some ticks and urges that chip away at us until we give in. We would most definitely be better off not paying them any mind, but they seem relentless in their compulsion for our attention. Check out one of my embarrassing vices in the latest installment of my series..

Why Can't I Quit You..?!

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I collect things.. not.. like.. collectables. More like ticket stubs and video game boxes, etc. I don't know when or how it started, but it's just been something that I've always done.

I think it's genetic. My father's work truck was a land of lost files, pencils, coffee cups.. but if you asked him for anything specific, he'd dive right in and come up with it moments later without even having to come up for air. Our attic and shed were of similar disarray.

For me, it was little momentos.. personal token, scraps of paper, love letters, etc. It was ideal in youth when these little memory capsules could be fostered together and put on display in a scrap book.. Unfortunately, I never got into the hobby.

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No, I just tend to hold on to things for god knows what.. a rainy day.. a blue moon.. in case one day I dig them up and remember them fondly.. or perhaps that baseball card collection might be worth something?? Nah, my treasure trove of knick knacks and paddywhacks serve no purpose but to take up space..

In my prime, I was graced with my father's innate ability to immediately recall and locate any long lost trinket or paperwork upon command, but not anymore.. the clutter has taken over, and what a simple filing job might have solved in a matter of minutes, ends up in an hour long frustrated scavenger hunt through bottoms of drawers and stacks of scraps.

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The plight doesn't end there.. when things do finally reach a tipping point, any attempt at 'Spring Cleaning' are laughable. A discard and keep pile are set up, and things eventually (miraculously) creep from the "toss out" area to find their way back to the "hold onto" area.. and all was for nothing as things go back to the status quo.

Boxes, warranties, and manuals for long broken devices and or disregarded household appliances occupy a plethora of drawers that are never opened.. Things are hastily collected in a mishmash of vital documents and trifling ephemera to be sorted at permanently postponed later date.. it's not healthy..

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We must see the world through rose colored glasses indeed, because in my mind, I can't believe how some people seemingly thrive in a pig-sty when I visit other people's homes. But I can only imagine what visitors must think of my cluttered study..

Yes, life would be so much easier if I could just cut the crap, stop hoarding useless items, and get organized.. I think I'll make an extensive list of things that need to go.. if I could only find my pen... I'm sure I left it around here somewhere.. crap, where's my notebook! ..ah, forget it..