(649) External clutter -sign of internal problem?

Have you been to a house where the owner clutters every room with piles of newspaper, boxes of unused things and generally only left a narrow passage clear from room to room.

I have, let me tell you:

1. A double-storey link house that belonged to a male judge with four school going children.

2. A single-storey detached house of a retired civil servant and his wife.

3. A three-room apartment of a construction supervisor with his family.

Interestingly, the family in 1. actually migrated to Canada and continue their merry way accumulating goodness knows what! From what visitors said, they are re-creating their old abode, only this time it is a bigger detached house.

The civil servant in 2. passed on, full of years. His wife is an invalid. The care giver is clearing the house from top to bottom. It is somewhat tidy now.

I have walked into house number 3 twice, once before the hospitalization of the husband. The second time I saw quite a big difference, there is at least space to walk on. So I know it is the husband who stubbornly hold onto things, not the wife and children. The man in the house suffers from depression sporadically. Unlivable clutter is merely a manifestation of his over loaded mind.

* animal-collective.jpg from beyondrace.com