Garden Tool Set

Minimalism and Hoarding - Two sides of the same coin?

There have been a couple of series about hoarding on TV recently, Britain's Biggest Hoarders on the BBC and Channel 4's The Hoarder Next Door. They show how big an affect living with a hoard can have on us all.

Minimalism and hoarding seem to be part of the same spectrum: that of our relationship with material things. Both minimalism and hoarding can be a result of difficult and stressful situations that happen in the lives of all of us.

Hoarding can begin as a collection and spiral out of control to the point where rooms are no longer accessible, including the kitchen and the bathroom. Minimalism makes every room available, but perhaps with lacking any contents. Both of these extremes can make the act of living very difficult. Whereas minimalists at their most minimal will be proud at the extent they have managed to rid their lives of material things, hoarders at their most hoarded will close themselves within their hoard and be too embarrassed to let anyone know their situation - but neither situation can be maintained in the long term.

A balance must be found. It can be terribly difficult to reach this balance, especially if there is a psychological aspect that is part of the minimal or maximal state of your life at this particular time. The balance can surely only be maintained if the relationship with 'stuff' is thought about and understood. It's really important to have things in our lives - they're useful.

Embrace what you need. Understand and respect why you need it or want it in your life. As a hoarder when you no longer need it, when it no longer serves you; then accept that the relationship between you and the object is at its' end. It may not be the end for that object, it may well be recycled, given to others, or sold - but for you, its' time is through. As a minimalism understand that while it would be very minimal to have one pair of clothes it is rarely useful. While it may not be minimal to have a cutlery set for 8 and 8 plates, it facilitates social events at your house, so appreciate that multiples are not only necessary, but can be very beneficial.

Both hoarders and minimalists categorise things and consider themselves organised people. Hoarder may attribute labels to there copious amounts of various things - having a 'food museum' as in one of these programmes, or wanting to keep 20 years of newspapers as an archive. Minimalists also categorise and may decide that certain things are counted as one item. A good example of this is a laptop, which may have a separate mouse and keyboard, as well as many mp3 albums and loads of bits of software installed - but all of these things are counted as 1 item, instead of the many items that they truly are. It's all about relationships with things, whether digital or material.

While there are many minimalist challenges, for example, fit all of your belongings on a 2 pence coin (ok, I made that one up), but some are close to being that extreme. The only point in the challenge is really to make you happier and more content with your life. It's the same with a hoard - the point that it doesn't work for you is the point to make the change.

As I've written before, it's normal to swing from decluttering loads to accumulating ever more before reaching the balance. But as we reach the point of having a positive relationship with things, the urges disappear and the era of maintenance and stability can begin.