Hoarding Words

I’ve just spent a month away from home visiting various friends and family across the country. I took my work with me, of course, but didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped I would. 
Coming back home has made me reassess the place of things in my life. I am a hoarder. I have books, films and clothes I had as a teenager. Various bits and bobs that ‘might come in handy one day’. Impulse buys that I have never used. eBay buys that weren’t as expected. Old magazines. Old clippings from magazines. All of my old uni folders and books. Books that I bought in charity shops years ago that I haven’t yet read and now probably won’t. Furniture. So much furniture. Things that my parents didn’t want any more but didn’t want to throw away. Pairs of heels that I bought, forgetting that I hate wearing heels. Sets and sets and sets of bedding.
Coming back to it all after a while away, after seeing the houses of non-hoarders has made me reevaluate what I really need. Does that item really have sentimental value or is owning it just a habit? 
Having time away from something, immersing yourself in something different, gives you the space to really critically understand something that you’ve previously been too close to. 
I’ve filled up ten charity bags and deleted sticky paragraphs that aren’t really doing anything but I’m clinging to them because I took the time to write them and I’m used to having them there. 
My current thesis goal is to have the whole thing drafted by Christmas. After that I’m going to take two months away from it, do some other bits and bobs, learn something new. Then I’ll go back to it and see what is useful and what I’m just hoarding.