Do You Ever Feel Like a Plastic Bag of Bags?

The other day, the drawer in which I store my swimming stuff jammed. When I finally got it open and dumped out its contents, I counted more than a dozen bathing suits (several with their store tags intact), 12 bathing caps, 10 pairs of goggles and countless nose clips and earplugs.

Then I recalled the same thing had happened a week earlier with my drawer of pens and pencils, literally hundreds of them, half of which were dried out or otherwise useless.

And I shouldn’t even mention my full-size freezer or humongous medicine cabinet, where things fall out every time I open them. Or my floor-to-ceiling plastic bins of yarn, mountain-high pile of Bubble Wrap, bags of plastic bags and shopping bags, and shelves of items I thought might be gifts for someone someday.

Damn, Jane Brody! The Times health writer cleans out her closet while pointing to the just-published book The Hoarder in You: How to Live a Happier, Healthier, Uncluttered Live. Send either to that special someone who’ll put it in a pile of books on top of a larger pile of books on top of the bookshelf.

Photo by Huguette Roe, via Shutterstock