Moving... and Overwhelm

We are-- more or less-- moved into the new house.

Some people deal really well with stress-- in fact, they tend to be at their best when their backs are against the wall. I'm not one of those people.

The last couple of weeks have been very hectic-- and included having a houseguest for a week. Of course, that arrangement had been made a long time ago, back when we thought we would be moved in by mid-September.

The stamp area, as seen from my desk.

I have barely had time to set up (or organize) my new office space-- but things are slowly beginning to take shape. No matter what we do in life, it seems like we always have "more than expected."

As we were packing to leave our old house, I became very aware that I have accumulated far more "unsorted" stamps than I thought. Now that I am unpacking-- for what will hopefully be the last time-- I have grown even more aware of the sheer number of boxes marked "stamp related" that also could be placed into a general category of "to sort later."

Occasionally, I come across programs on cable TV about people who are "hoarders." My wife and I watch (with some fascination) and then grow more determined to control our hoarding tendencies.

It makes me wonder if stamp collectors are all "hoarders," to some degree, except we keep it under some semblance of control by only hoarding one "thing." I am yet to meet a collector who's always "caught up" with his or her collection. For most of us, there are 47 million "projects" and "sub-projects" and piles of things set aside to "deal with later." On the surface, it looks pretty neat and tidy... but stamps are little and light, and the "under control" looking shelf that houses 23 shoeboxes and a bunch of stockbooks may actually be home to a giant mess of items that number in the 100's of thousands.

Not that I am getting down on stamp collectors. Or myself, for that matter.

For the moment, it's just a little daunting... there is so much (now that everything is finally in one place) and "where do I start?" I keep reminding myself of an old truism: "The way to eat an elephant is... one bite at a time..."