Hoarders are slobs, but slobs are not necessarily hoarders. 

I was thinking about this concept today as I made the French Toast Sticks that I was supposed to make last weekend, but never did.  As I worked on them, I was feeling pretty good about myself.  I bragged to the audience in my head that I know plenty of non-slobs who wouldn’t go to all of this trouble. 

Then, once I had reminded myself (and my in-head audience) that I was a slob, I started thinking about that too.  And how bad am I really?  In these moments, I often start comparing myself to the people on shows like “Hoarders” in an effort to paint myself as not THAT bad.   

Now that you’ve experienced my random thought processes, I’ll get to the point. 

I’m not a full-fledged, can’t-cook-in-my-kitchen hoarder.  But I have definite hoarding tendencies.  I could be a hoarder, if I don’t try to kick this slob-thing.   And really, at certain times, there are areas of my home that could blend right in on those shows. 

Here are my non-trained-wanna-be-psychologist analytic thoughts:

A slob is someone whose brain works differently, and who tends (drastically) toward disorganization.  He/she has a natural inclination to not see small messes until they become huge messes. 

A hoarder is someone who has lost hope, and doesn’t think that there is any way to not be a slob. 

I used to resist calling myself a slob.  I had so many excuses for why my home was such a disaster.  Owning up to being a slob has been a big part of this “coming clean” process, though.  To me, it means that I’m accepting who I am, how my brain works, and I’m finding ways to adjust and compensate for my natural tendencies.

If I walk around thinking I’m normal, the mess baffles me.  How did that pile happen?  If I accept that I’m a slob, I start thinking through the reasons the pile happened, and I work to change. 

There’s hope in that.