As a fan of the Muppets, it's fun to learn about all of the different Muppet merchandise that has been made over the years, and to work on building up a personal collection. It becomes a source of pride to show off a collection to others, and to socialize with other like minded collectors. I've come to learn the hard way, however, that there is a huge difference between collecting and hoarding which can be confused as being one and the same.
Generally, one starts out collecting something, such as Muppets, which at first is a fun hobby. But when it progresses to the point that the collection is taking over valuable living space, or the majority of your collection is in storage, or you have so much stuff that your shelves are crammed, messy and chaotic, then you have transitioned from collecting to hoarding which can become a big problem.
This transition to hoarding can happen without even realizing it, and may turn into a habitual lifestyle that can be very hard to change. Once a hoarding mindset is established, it becomes very challenging to part with things, and the value of an object or a collection can become confused with the value of oneself as a person. It can become an unhealthy way of feeling in control of ones life by thinking "I own a large collection of (fill in the blank, such as Muppets) therefore I am in control" when in fact it's the collection that now owns you. If the collection has taken over your living space making it very difficult to live in, and yet you cannot part with "the stuff" as you feel it is inherently a part of who you are, you have become a hoarder.
Rather than actually being in control of ones life, hoarding provides a false sense of feeing in control as the more stuff a hoarder surrounds themselves with, the safer they feel. Yet, this is a false sense of safety as hoarding creates safety hazards, such as making a living area more difficult or unsafe to maneuver in, creating a fire hazard (more stuff means more fuel for a fire) , and is also a health hazard as it makes a living space more difficult to keep clean.
As someone who has collected and then hoarded Muppet items his entire life, I find it quite fitting that Jim Henson gave us an honest and ominous portrayal of hoarding in the film Labyrinth. There is a scene in a junkyard where "the Junk Lady" busies herself with rummaging through a variety of objects while carrying a huge pile of stuff on her back. She tries to get the main character, Sarah, to start her own collection but Sarah realizes "it's all junk" and throws it away. It's an over the top dramatization of hoarding vs collecting, (I would never call my collection "junk") but it gets the point across.
Here are some of my observations about the differences between hoarding and collecting:
Collecting
-a collection is generally about a very specific type of item, such as "PVC Muppet figures made in the 70's, 80's and 90's", rather than being limitless, such as "anything under the sun that has to do with Muppets".
-items in a collection are displayed neatly in an organized way, rather than messy or cluttered
-you feel satisfied when the collection is complete and stop acquiring more, or you have set a limit to what you are collecting (when the collection will be complete) that is reasonable and achievable in a suitable amount of time (granted, some collectable items are hard to find and it may take many years before an item becomes available, but generally a significant collection can be completed within two or three years)
-the collection doesn't take up more space in a room than the space you have to live in
-you can find specific items in your collection very easily without needing to move a pile of things out of the way
-you can pass up acquiring new things that you don't need, or that don't really go with your collection
-you only acquire more items if you have a specific space in mind for displaying it
-you can ultimately part with your collection if you absolutely had to, though you might feel sad to see it go
-you can enjoy the collection, but it does not determine your self worth
Hoarding
-your collection takes over your living space so that you have limited mobility in a room (or rooms) of your house, resulting in losing access to a portion of a room or house
-acquiring more items is impulsive and it is difficult to stop or change the behaviour
-you never feel satisfied that the collection is complete and there is no end in sight, the sky is the limit
-your collection is mainly stored in boxes or is displayed in a messy, crammed in space
-most of your collection has been in storage for several months or years
-portions of your collection are inaccessible due to the amount of stuff you have (such as piles of boxes or things on top of each other, or piled in front of more boxes of things)
-you prioritize acquiring more stuff over being practical about how you are spending your money and using your living space
-you keep telling yourself "someday I'll get more organized" or something similar
-you acquire things so that you can keep it in storage rather than displaying it or using it
-you have multiples of the same item(s)
-you "need" to have the pile of things rather than just wanting to have things for interest sake
-you are holding onto things in storage because you think they have monetary value, rather than enjoying them yourself by displaying or using them
-parting with your collection is a traumatic thing to consider, as it is one of the pillars that is holding up your self worth
Making the change from Hoarder back to Collector
I was aware that I was hording for many years before I was willing to do anything about it. I didn't just hoard Muppets, I was into all kinds of vintage toys especially superhero toys, as well as anything to do with puppetry such as...more toys! The basement became my "storage space" which I filled with boxes and plastic bins of collectables that I thought were valuable. Some of it actually was valuable, but being honest with myself I had to admit that most of it wasn't valuable at all, it was just average stuff that I was holding on to. It was the type of stuff that I could donate to a thrift store, which is likely where I found it in the first place.
I realized the hard way that the value of "the stuff" wasn't more valuable than the quality of my life. Having all of that "stuff "piled in the basement was like a weight on my back, not unlike the junk lady from Labyrinth. It was always on my mind, and I felt the burden of having to maintain all of that stuff all of the time, 24-7. Being honest with myself, I also had to admit that I would be much happier if I just got rid of it! At least a good portion, like about three quarters of the stuff needed to go. The rest I would keep as my true collection, the jewels among the junk.
So how did I do that? What set me off on my quest to reclaim my living space and my life was a conversation that I had with my therapist. She said that most people who are hoarders are unable to deal with the issue on their own and require a specialist to intervene. I took that as a challenge to deal with the issue on my own and be the exception to the rule. Of course, there's nothing wrong with seeking help if that's what you need to do to solve your own hoarding issue, but for myself, I really felt that it was critical to do it on my own.
It took me a year and a half to deal with the piles of boxes, and a lot of very difficult decisions had to be made. I parted with things that I still think are awesome, yet I just wasn't using them and I didn't see myself doing so any time in the near future. In other words it was just clutter taking up space, so that type of stuff had to go. I also made a deal with myself to convert the "storage space" into my "display area". No more boxes or bins were allowed! I bought and set up several bookshelves which I would fill only with things that I was keeping in my collection. Whatever was left over had to go!
This meant that I had to be practical and work with the space that I have. Therefore, I divided the space up for the different collections that I had by leaving a certain number of shelves for each topic. Most of the bigger items that I really liked had to go to make space for the other stuff, I just couldn't keep everything, but I allowed myself to keep a few of the big items. I had to choose what I liked more, what was core to the collection, and let the other stuff go to be enjoyed by someone else. It's better having someone else enjoy it than to keep it buried in my basement. The rest of the room had to be floor space for living in, not for storage boxes!
When it came to the smaller stuff, how I decided what to keep came down to the simple question "Is this something that I want to display and look at all of the time?" It surprised me just how much of the stuff fell into the "No" column. That's the stuff I donated. I also collected some of it and sold it by the box at a nostalgia shop for a price that they couldn't say no to, such as $20 a box. It was a win for both of us. The dealer at the shop got a lot of collectable toys for a cheep price, and I got rid of a bunch of stuff that was cluttering up my life.
One of my hang ups about letting go of some of the nicer collectables was that I didn't want them to get damaged or broken as I had worked for so many years to keep everything in good condition. Therefore, by selling it at a nostalgia shop, I feel that the likelihood of the items being saved and enjoyed in someone's collection is fairly good. I realize that some of it will end up being played with and damaged, but my own quality of life is more important so it's worth letting go of it.
Today, I can go downstairs to the basement and see all of my collectables on display without having to rummage through or move any boxes. It's all set up and ready for me to enjoy, and I no longer feel the burden of having to do something with "the stuff" as it's all been taken care of. The basement is now a room that I can live in, and if I want to find something in my collection, I can do so very easily as I know exactly where it will be... on the book shelf on display.
Conclusion
Learning the difference between collecting and hoarding can be a hard lesson, which I know very well from my own experience, but it is possible to correct your behaviour or habits and reclaim your living space if you are willing to change your mindset about what you are collecting and why. Today the majority of my collection is no longer in storage bins, it's out on shelves neatly displayed. I've reduced the amount of "stuff" I have, and prioritized what I want to collect.
It makes me so happy to see my collection presented this way, as a collection, after so many years of just hoarding it. I still have a few boxes left to deal with, but I'm heading in the right direction and have changed my way of thinking. I don't bring things home just to put them into a storage box as a way of "collecting", or just to have more stuff, because that's not collecting, it's hoarding.
Ultimately, the trick is to keep in mind that collecting is supposed to be a fun hobby that makes life more enjoyable and brings happiness to your day, rather than causing problems and being a burden. If you make the choice to set limits for your collection and respect yourself for who you are, not what you have, you can avoid the problems that go along with hoarding.
After all, you are special just because you were born, not because of what you own, how much talent you have, how many online followers you have, etc. All of those things are unimportant in the grand scheme of things! You are special just because you are you, and because you are alive. You don't have to do or accomplish anything to be special. Getting rid of extra stuff in your collection doesn't make you become less special! There are about 8 billion people living on this earth, but there is only one YOU! That's how special you are, and that will never change!
So while a collection is cool to own, it's just stuff! You on the other hand are irreplaceable!