Junk Drawer Psychology

I'm muttering about decluttering...This is my junk drawer. As you can see, I have two layers of chaos going here!

It's sort of like a Whitman Sampler of chocolates, only not as enjoyable!

This is some of the useless stuff in the top tray:
Three boxes of sparklers left over from the 4th-Jayden was terrified of them, by the way! Random stray cards from a deck the boys bought at Hooters when they were in Middle School-why are we keeping those? You can't actually play any card games with them-too many missing! An expired $5 off coupon to Ruby Tuesday. Four glue sticks that are so dried out they're like petrified rock! Two permanent markers missing caps that are all dried out with odd bits of gunk and cat hair adhered to them. The back off of something unrecognizable that used to require batteries. A George Foreman pedometer that I got as a gift in April when we went to the casino. I should be using it~it's still in the package untouched! Connectors for a shelving system we no longer even own. Four packets of Arthrotec that expired in 2004. One squishy earplug. Dear God! What is the matter???

The bottom layer is just as insane. You have your basic busted plastic switchplate cover, two busted pairs of safety glasses, an empty Glade oil scent room freshener thingy, a bottle of paintball goggle cleaner that is missing the little push-down sprayer head, a ziplock bag full of keys to God only knows what, a packet of Floralife fresh flower food, an ancient cell phone that's missing it's antennae, nametags that say Hello, my name is, a photo frame that clips to the sun visor of your car, more Hooters cards, and an obnoxious South Park toy that says four different foul sayings every time you shut the drawer too hard, plus other asinine things that nobody in their right mind would have in there!

K-last year I went on a big decluttering kick because my friend Anna gave me a book, Creating Sacred Spaces with Feng Shui, written by Karen Kingston. Very good book. In this book, the author explains that all our "stuff" can either bring us peace or anxiety. You should go through every room of your home and decide what each item does for you-if you are negative or indifferent to anything, it should go because it's either not contributing to your well-being or it is actually sapping your energy. Ditto with every bit of clutter in drawers, closets, on counters, desks, etc. She also recommended that whatever is kept be organized in such a way as to be pleasing and give you a peaceful, happy feeling. The book goes on to get even more detailed about how items in your home should be placed to increase or enhance certain things-like wealth, health, love, better relationships, etc. Anything that is broken should be fixed or replaced because that, too, creates a negative reaction within you every time you walk into that space and who needs that! Hmmm, once you get all that done, Ms. Kingston recommends you do a purification ceremony for your home. It was a little odd, but I went ahead with it, even borrowing Anna's Balinese Space Clearing Bell that came from an actual temple in Bali, and I made my own Holy Water-out of water from Lake Michigan, of course, what could be more sacred than that?? 
Now, a year later-back to square one! Where did all this bunk come from? I certainly don't remember buying it, owning it, and I don't think it was there last year. Has someone been sneaking into my house, depositing this stuff while I'm away?

A couple months ago in my Psychopathology class, we discussed some cases in the DSM case study book about people who actually couldn't live in their homes anymore because of their tendency towards clutter and hoarding. I hope that's not the direction I'm headed-YIKES! It falls under the classification of an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. It is the inability to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value. Oh, I'm sweating now! Right about that same time I remember reading a story about Delta Burke, former star of Designing Women, who at one point had 27 storage units filled with stuff,  and was so overcome with depression due to her hoarding that she had to be hospitalized, saying, "This rules my entire life"! 

I know my junk drawer is bad, and I have a few other nooks and crannies to erraticate, but I'm definately not to the 27 storage unit degree of dysfunction! I guess I'll just have to make this decluttering ritual an annual event at the Baker household. Anybody need some fresh flower food or some name tags for your next social event?

I swear, by next year's decluttering festival, all the cupboards, closets, and drawers in my house will be THIS organized~yeah, right!