Why do you do the thing you do?

Ever wonder why we do the things we do? Why we hold on to certain things and can't let them go? This time I am not talking about things we hang on emotionally, but items, even though they do get then an emotional thought attached to them in the end. Or does the thought come first and that's why we can't let them go. Or why do we collect the things we collect, some collection are for obvious reasons, something we like or are interested in, because it is beautiful or gives us comfort, but what about the collection of things that never get used or have no real purpose, why do we acquire them?

I used to love to watch the show "Clean sweep", where they come in, completely empty out two room in your house, sort everything into piles, "Keep", "Toss" and "Sell", how many times do I start a clean sweep in one room in my house, to maybe only part with a few things, not enough to actually make a dent into it or how comes sometimes I toss a lot,  and it still looks like it just did before, maybe a little tidier but obviously still way too much stuff. Take my closet for example, ok given big girl clothes take a lot more space up in a closet than if they were a size 4, I guess that's excuse number one. But I have clothes in boxes in my storage room ( former en suite bathroom), ok given too that sometimes I switch around winter and summer clothes and store them in boxes if not in use, but then there are the boxes that have clothes in that are either way too big now or not big enough yet. In all honesty do I really think even if I fit in those clothes again, I will wear these out of style clothes? Not that I am stylish dresser, but there are just certain things that just don't look right at any given time. And then there is clothing that I bought and never ever wore, and have no intentions to wear, because they are just not me, even though I bought them  because they were pretty, had nice colours or whatever the reason. There is this one really pretty blouse, with all the colours I love, I feel in love with it the minute I saw it, I tried it on and I remember the moment when I stepped out of the change room to look at the mirror and one of the sales persons, her name shall remain Lucy ( now if I trust anybody with what looks good on me, it is her) pulled me out into the store and pranced me around like a super model, because that blouse looked so good on me, the colours brought out my eyes, highlighted my hair etc. Well and yes even I admit it, it looked great, so I bought the blouse, to this day it hangs in my closet, never been worn, I put it on once in a while to see if it still fits, but it is just not me, way to flashy and fancy. I still love it, but not for me. The blouse went from fitting great, to too tight and right now it is too big, so I couldn't wear it anyway....but I probably wouldn't either. So I hung it back in my closet till the next time I go through a cleaning fit. 

Well and then there is one more item I can't part with either, and that is the black top I wore for my dad's funeral, I gave away the pants, but I just can't part with the top. I could wear the top as a dress right now, because it is that big on me, so it hopefully never will be worn again, but I just can't give it away. So I packed it back into a box for another time. I did get rid of some t-shirt or shirts that were in the boxes and haven't seen the light of day in a while. So I could at least rearrange a few things.
But how about the totally useless collections I have, not sure why I have them....e.g. I have an array of cookbooks....I hate cooking....unless it is fast and easy, but to really cook anything following detailed directions, I do that maybe once or twice a year, but so why do I need all these cookbooks? I love looking at them, and yes would be nice to try some of those dishes...but I don't. I have every type of cookbook imaginable, but I don't cook. So what is that all about?
Or take the tons of cross stitch patterns I have that I know I never ever will stitch, why do I have them or why can't I just give them away? Who knows?
Of course there are then the collections you start on purpose, not that you really need them, but you just like to surround yourself with those items, like my tart burners, my candles, my donkeys and my other books.
Well does all this clutter make my butt look big?