This is the question I've been asked even more than "Why did you become a housecleaner?" And I have been asked that many times.
Empty space seems to bother people. Junkers often have compulsive personalities and tend to live in the past. Junk and clutter, no matter how worthless, also give lots of people the illusion they are rich, have something to fall back on if hard times come. They want to get their money's worth out of everything.
I've listened to many other theories, Too: heredity, lack of self esteem, fear of reality, deprivation as a child, " I'm a Capricorn and all Capricorns have this trait.. I have collected and compiled hundreds of reasons, as well as scholarly studies, and I have fed them all of then into my computer to try and arrive at the reason we collect junk. The answer is so profound, I will surely win a Nobel Peace Prize for it.
By the time we emerge from childhood, we firmly believe that "things' make us happy. if one little thing gives us pleasure, then surely more will increase our pleasure.
We think an object or possession will inspire us to perform better. Then we gradually learn to measure our self worth by how other people see us, so again we look for more and better things to make ourselves more impressive. Just to have the things, even if we don't use them, because somehow they will enrich our life and raise our level of living.
We blame our junk giving moms and dads and the grandpas and grandmas and even the government. They all conspired to fill
our lives with clutter. But all of that was only a dribble compared to what we grew and sprouted and nurtured and cultivated on our own.
People need to realize things are not the answer. Getting rid of things is the answer. When you get the junk out of your life, everything improves--mentally, physically, and emotionally. So, let's embark on a "De-junk my life program." For the next few weeks, I will be posting on my blog page, ways to de-clutter your home. Let's do it a step at a time.