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The Out-of-Control Collection (OCC) or the constant battle between an ever-growing collection and a finite amount of space.
By David Rickert
from his website the "Quackatorium" at www.radiantslab.com/quackmed
I'm sure every collector has had to fight this battle at some time or another. Most see the signs early on and have the willpower to stop things before they get out of control. They manage to collect, and at the same time have an adequate amount of space left over to function properly within their home. Unfortunately, sometimes the signs are ignored or the will power is lacking. For these collectors, things can quickly and tragically get out of control. I have determined that two closely related factors (that collectors tend to ignore) lead to an out of control collection:
1. Space is a finite thing. No matter how hard you try, you cannot fit 1500 square feet of stuff in a 1000 square foot room. It's impossible. I have tried. You can rearrange, consolidate and stack till you are blue in the face, but the simple fact remains; there comes a point when more stuff will just not fit.
2. Collections are not a static entity. They will eventually fill up and overflow from any space that is allocated to
them and if left unchecked, will eventually entirely fill up an apartment or house. Collectors tend to think that if they just had a little bit more room they could comfortably store all of their collection. Wrong! If you have more room your collection will increase until you have again run out of room. It's the collector fate.
In general, there is a certain sequence of events that lead to an out of control collection. The first thing is something I call the "Creep". As you start adding stuff to your collection, your first choice for storage is any space that is out of the way and off the floor. When that space is filled, the corners and then the floors will gradually start filling up. Eventually you will notice that your collection is starting to impinge on your walking space and your home is becoming more and more congested. The collection becomes like a fungus or mold that starts to flow or creep onto any available space.
Eventually you will get tired of tripping over things and stubbing your toe (those late night trips to the bathroom can be murder). You will then start storing stuff in your closets and basement. This of course means cleaning out these areas first which has its own hazards (spiders, mildew and hurt backs) and tough decisions (do I really need to save every pair of tennis shoes I have ever owned?). You do the necessary cleaning and start filling up the closets and basement. All is well. You have room to walk and your friends start visiting you again. But the Creep never sleeps and eventually things start getting congested again. The next plan of attack is to pay homage to the great god of storage and start building shelves. I am not talking about quaint little knick-knack shelves that you can buy in the store. No, they must be huge floor-to-ceiling, corner-to-corner Behemoths. Born from blood, sweat and tears, assembled in the room itself and bolted to the walls. Now that all the available wall space is taken up with shelves filled with your stuff, all is calm for awhile. It is of course a false calm, because the Creep inevitably rears its ugly head again with increased ferocity.
At this point the true collectors start getting ingenious and part time collectors just give up. In the hopes of freeing up more space, a true collector will starts analyzing ever bit of furniture they have and seriously question its necessity. Chairs and places to sit are the first to go. You figure that if your friends want to visit they can stand. Besides, they don't trust your cooking so dinner parties were never an option anyway. Dressers start disappearing. Fold-out workbenches and tables are built. Stairs become a newfound area to put things, and items start to be hung from the ceilings. Kitchen shelves are rearranged and old food is thrown away to free up more space. Car trunks and even backseats start filling up.
Eventually you will no longer see your house/apartment as a place to live but rather as a storage facility that just so happens to still have enough space to live in. The collection starts to become an entity of its own and your needs are fast becoming subservient to its needs. You are in fact becoming but a worker drone under the all-encompassing command of "THE COLLECTION." Your life now becomes totally focused on feeding the Collection and making sure that its growth and eventual total domination are not hindered in any way. Any suggestion from others to clean up or reduce the Collection is seen as a direct threat to the Collection and therefore is adamantly rejected. You become the only one that understands the Collection and it in turn becomes your only friend. At this point, whole sections of the Collection must be reorganized just to access the bathroom or open the refrigerator. Whole rooms become inaccessible and eventually forgotten. Hallways now become the sleeping quarters because the bed was taking up too much valuable space. Windows no longer bring in sunlight in because they are blocked. The air becomes stagnant and musty. Doorways become blocked and covered over. Eventually any passage to the outside world becomes inaccessible. You are doomed to live the rest of your life inside a one-foot by one-foot area of floors space surrounded by an impenetrable catacomb of ancient scientific devices and paraphernalia.
Learn to recognize the signs of an out of control collection in yourself and others. If properly monitored, a collection can be a very positive and educational experience. If allowed to grow unchecked though, it can become a truly tragic experience for all involved.
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