Published on 12, July, 2020
I was wondering today if this is an autistic thing.
I've spent several decades collecting objects and the last decade+ trying to rid myself of the majority.
However, I have given up on the idea of ever being minimalist.
I notice that I remember where everything came from, even, when purchased, which shop in which town.
I try not to be sentimental about things, but sometimes I can't help it.
My mother, who I believe was autistic, was a hoarder in quite an extreme sense.
My autistic friend finds it very hard to part with belongings.
Everything has an association.
Are others like this and are there contributors here who are genuinely minimalistic and don't have an attachment to things?
I have a lot of things with sentimental value. I have clothes and accessories with memories of who gave them to me.
I have a box of photos going back to my grandparents parents generation. Although I never knew my great grandparents I have heard many stories of that generation. I enjoy looking at old photos from my past too.
My parents were children during the war so things tended to be mended. I am grateful I was taught to sew and repair as I often use these skills. I recycle some clothes reusing them for repairs or cloths. I also recycle things I have finished with if I can find another use including furniture sometimes.
I am currently saving cardboard tubes as I have found planting sweet peas in them makes them easy to transplant.
There are so many things that can be reused but due to space sometimes I have the difficult decision to make as to what to keep.
Homebird said: I am grateful I was taught to sew and repair as I often use these skills.
I'm assuming that was stopped at some point.
When I was at school it was only taught to girls (sigh).
I wonder when needlework lessons were stopped (if they were) and whether they might be brought back in again considering that the culture of re-use of clothes is changing.
I repair my clothes too and was a bit thrown that younger members of my family never mend anything.
It's part of the throwaway culture and a part that could be redressed.