Interesting thread. IMark, I found your quotes from the Feng Shui/Clutter book interesting. A family member has a hoarding compulsion, and from the little reading I've done into the OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) spectrum, Kingston reinforces what is (partially) at the root of this behavior. Decision-making issues abound here as well. There was one person cited who was a hoarder and an organizer - everything she saved (which, with a hoarding compulsion, can be literally most everything) was boxed or bagged and labelled. She had a shoebox labelled, and containing "pieces of string too short to save". This is humurous, but jeez, can you imagine living like that?

"This might be worth something someday" is a justification my relative uses for her behaviour. Consequently, not much of anything gets thrown away. My take on it is this: if everything is valuable, then nothing is.

Interestingly, this person is extremely creative. The creativity is, however, stifled and suffocated by the hoarding behaviour. A shame, really.