In Love with France, At Home In Italy

In working on my "clutter" issues in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), I was shocked when my supportive therapist did not "buy" my romantic explanation for why I find it so hard to get rid of things. I described that tendency as: "I see the poetry in everything." I was shocked and dismayed to hear him say the equivalent of "Poetry Shmoetry! That's hoarding!"  Now even I knew that to be a hoarder did not sound as nice as any of the euphemisms I assigned to my clutter-producing behavior. These included: I am economical (this is the fine-motor-coordinated 3-yr.old kid who got extra points for cutting the napkins in half to save $) I come from a family that is missing the throw-away gene. I have such an empathetic relationship to history that I need to save everything in case there's another Depression or Holocaust Maybe that___(fill in blank with any useless object, here) will be valuable some day Save it for the Tag Sale (not...

1. IS LIVING IN THE ITALIAN COUNTRYSIDE A UNIQUELY EFFECTIVE FORM OF THERAPY? Today is the first day of my stay-cation. The rest of the gang has flown the coop, leaving me all alone--except for the bugs and the plants--in my isolated super-nest. Although for me, all transitions have usually been bumpy (or worse), I am feeling good about this one. I tried Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) to work on 3 things to which I assigned the acronym, ACT:problems with AUTHORITY, CLUTTER, and TRANSITIONS, and even well after the fact, I seem to be doing better with all of them. That did not prevent me, however, from staying up doing email until a ridiculous 1:45 AM, in anticipation of the kids' 4AM departure. Or stocking up with enough food and water for many more than the two weeks I expect to be here by myself. Or taking one "test-drive" back with U just to be sure that, in a pinch, I could drive if I had to. 2. A "LIGHT-BULB" MOMENT When alone, I am forced to r...