Clutter Chronicles
Episodes
62 episodes
1: Meet Mary, a Recovering Hoarder
This is my first conversation with Mary. Mary is slowly letting me into her life to share her story about her unusual relationship with stuff. She now calls herself a recovering hoarder, and she wants to help others by shining the light on this to...
2: Childhood Unbelonging
Mary talks about her childhood, her pain of feeling misunderstood and the shame that brought. She clung to her stuffed toys because she didn't know how to voice her feelings and later turned to shopping to soothe her anxiety.
3: Crossroads
Mary came to a crossroad in her adult life when she realized she was out of control. That was 10 years ago.
4: Rock Bottom
Mary shares her rock bottom low point and discovers that her stuff is getting in the way of living. She also discovers, miraculously, how to start taking better steps.
5: "I'm a hoarder."
Mary shares when she was ready to admit that she was a hoarder, begin the healing process and let people help her. What's the difference between a minimalist (her husband) and a hoarder: someone who is in charge of their stuff and someone who isn't.
7: Therapy + Getting Zapped
Mary tells us about going into therapy and getting zapped by a power greater than herself.
8: Fighting the Hoarding Dragon
Living in her house full of stuff requires armor. What's it like for Mary to keep putting on and taking off the armor to fight the hoarding dragon? Also, what's her husband's perspective on all of her stuff?
9: Stuff Out the Door
Mary moves some stuff from her vintage clothing collection out the door.
10: Stuff Out the Door Part 2
More about the momentous clear out of Mary's vintage clothing and accessory items and what makes someone worthy of receiving her precious stuff.
11: Going Back to Where it all Began
Last time, we heard about the momentous clear out and what makes someone worthy of receiving Mary's precious stuff. In today’s conversation Mary returns to her childhood home where it all began.
12: Resistance
Last time, we heard about Mary returning to her childhood home where it all began. In today’s conversation Mary experiences resistance after her recent success getting rid of some of her vintage clothing collection.
13: More Resistance
Mary talks about trying to make a 2nd vintage clothing store appointment in the midst of heavy resistance. She particularly wants to bring a precious vintage formal robe that she has loved and displayed for many years, one of her most favorite pie...
14: Procrastination Bandwagon
Mary gets rid of her precious vintage robe and lives to tell the tale!
15: Hoarders on TV
We get Mary's perspective on the Hoarders TV show and we discuss the email that she wrote to God. Notes:The person I couldn't remember is Peter Walsh. He's been on two TV shows: Clean Sweep and Enough Already.
16: Taming the Compulsive Shopping Dragon
We discuss how Mary stopped the inflow of stuff into her home by addressing her compulsive shopping habit. Also on deck: Will she or won’t she? Is Mary ready to let me into her home?
17: Mary Lets Me In: House Visit Part 1
Mary lets me visit her house, and this is a very big deal.
18: House Visit Part 2
This is the second episode of three we recorded during my visit to Mary’s house. In this conversation I see the worst, her most packed rooms and things got a little weird for us.
19: House Visit Part 3
This was an overwhelming experience for both of us. Mary reveals what she really wants to be able to do with her time instead of worry about her stuff. And I awkwardly ask if she wants my help to get ready for her looming house inspection. How I w...
20: House Visit Aftermath
Last time we finished up my momentous visit to Mary’s house. We had set a goal at the beginning our our podcast to let me into her home. Today, we debrief how that visit went for each of us.
21: House Visit Aftermath Part 2
Last time we started processing through the aftermath of my visit to Mary’s house and we had more to explore, so here’s part two of that conversation.
22: Breakthroughs
Today, we get to hear about Mary’s recent breakthrough experiences. It’s some good news today, friends.
23: Making Room
Last time we heard about Mary’s recent breakthroughs, in this episode Mary is now able to get glimpses about what she would do with her time instead of marshaling her stuff.
24: Turning Hoarding Inside Out
We discuss our admiration for Amanda Palmer’s "Art of Asking" TED talk, what it’s like to ask people for help and how our podcast project is like science fiction, turning hoarding inside out.
25: Family Heirlooms: Treasure or Clutter?
In today’s conversation, we change things up and little. We’ve invited a woman named Barbara, who Mary met because she was wearing a blouse she had made out of a vintage tablecloth. Mary thought she might be the perfect person to sell some of her ...
