possessed

today i'm going to follow up on a thought-thread from yesterday's post in which i referenced my growing awareness of the volume of "stuff" that has accrued to me over the course of my life. i have been slowly but surely giving away or selling much of what i have accumulated but it is a journey that is barely begun.

my most recent and most painful letting go was four boxes of highly-prized vinyl. the last of a huge collection of vinyl records that have been slowly disappearing into the ether that is the used record store my friend tim runs.

today's entry is a documentary in which the lives - specifically the obsessions- of a group of four hoarders are examined. to outsiders, these people may seem strange or possibly even troubled. but inside each of us is a similar capacity and i think that when you watch this, you will find yourself empathizing with their dilemma.

the film questions whether hoarding is a symptom of mental illness or a revolt against the material recklessness of consumerism. the burning question - and one that has tremendous timeliness for many after the excesses of the season just passed, is, when does collecting become hoarding and why do possessions exert such an influence on our lives? why is it that some people become more discriminating in terms of the volume of what they possess, while others become more discriminating in terms of what they possess?

"possessed" . . . directed by martin hampton and released in 2008 . . .