Well, I'm back! I have to admit that I have not worked out since my last entry. It's been a week, I know! That last workout fried me, and on Tuesday, I found this documentary that has changed my whole outlook. Here's the documentary:


POSSESSED from Martin Hampton on Vimeo.

I watched that video and realized that if it wasn't for Banu cleaning up after me, I could be in this documentary. There are a few areas of the house that Banu doesn't touch. This is what it looks like when I'm left to my own devices:



That's my office. I work from home, most of the time.



Another view of my desk.



The nice bookshelf Banu got me for my birthday last year.



The basement



My nice collection of boxes. Empty boxes.



My cable organization method.



My nice workbench in the garage. "Everything looks stacked up, at least." Yeah, that was Banu.



And finally, one more shot of my cable organization method.

As you can see, I have a bit of a problem. And the main reason it's not worse is because I live with a (mostly) patient type-a personality wife who does a fantastic job of cleaning up after me. There are certain areas, however, that she won't touch, and those are the areas I've documented here.

On the same day I took these pictures, I called a therapist who specializes in OCD (I have other symptoms that are on the OC spectrum) and set up an appointment with her. I also purchased this book: Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding.

I can hear some of you saying, "Don't you think you might be overreacting?" That's a fair question, but no, I'm not. If you talk to anyone who has known me for a long time, they'll tell you I've had a problem with clutter since I was about ten years old. I have also had a problem with some other OC spectrum problems, but I don't really want to go into that here.

"Why are you sharing all this stuff? It's kind of personal..." That's true, too. I am sharing it because I am excited that I finally have a string tying a lot of my personal frustrations and obstacles together. I feel empowered by the idea that I can finally understand what's going on in my brain and do something about it!

I'll keep you posted here about my progress and about what I learn.

I have already made some progress. I'll tell you more about it in tomorrow's blog!

P.S. I'll also be getting back to working out starting tomorrow!