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’ve been living back in my childhood house for about 6 months now, it’s been the family home for over 50 years. I have been sorting through my late father’s workshop, it’s quite a large building yet I can remember where every item came from. Quite a large number of items have strong memories for me. Since childhood I’ve always had a strong bond with objects, my biggest problem is items being moved when I’m not there. It seems to unsettle my brain as the location of everything is stored and something being out of place is unbearable.
I came home on Thursday night and something I had setup had been moved, I don’t know what happened but I had a meltdown, it’s very unusual for me, I then shutdown and isolated myself. I couldn’t verbally explain what was happening.
I can have meltdowns if I can't find things. My wife used to hide my wallet in drawers in case we ever got broken in to (!!??), but would not tell me. Cue hours of shouting and muttering. My inlaws comes every other week for childcare and they tidy up after tea, and put dishes back in the most unusual places, which infuriates me.
Certain objects have to be in certain places. It seems the only thing that causes meltdowns with me.