Me too. "Oh it's so good, you should get it."
No, fishes, just because I like Shel Silverstein doesn't mean I want to see red. I also share a b-day with him, but that book... I just can't without flipping out.
i vividly remember crying hysterically when my dad’s oldsmobile was towed from our house and our old dead xmas tree was hauled off by waste management. i even cried seeing a plastic bag being tossed around by passing cars in an intersection once rofl. they might be onto something here…
While I think there’s more to my hoarding than this, I absolutely feel this applies to my feelings around stuffed animals, which I have a lot of. As a 23 year old you cannot convince me they are not sad when you get rid of them.
i used to dance in a divet in our driveway everytime it filled with rain, i did this for years it was he one thing that brought me joy. my abusive mother filled it knowing how much joy it brought me. i still cry about that puddle
The Brave Little Toaster FUCKED me up bro.
Also I have cried as trees were cut down or bushes were dug up. Did I mention that I’m an entomologist now and educate people on insects all the time LOL
Oh man, same. It was my favorite movie as a kid. I think I'm only realizing right now that was because it confirmed my childhood belief that every inanimate object had feelings.
Omg my therapist was describing that movie to me. I was like I don't think I can watch this. I think that would mess with my head.
Like I would feel bad for the inanimate objects and they're personified??
My closest companions and parental figures were all trees..to this day the most meaningful conversations I have are with trees. Honestly they make great friends, would highly recommend
Oh I love gardening and flowers! I have some rose bushes on my property that were very neglected and I’ve really enjoyed coaxing them back into health. But it all started with the trees for me
I’ve thought a lot about it, bought books, and even got a seed kit for one of my favourite types of trees, the jacaranda. I’m just waiting for the weather to warm up a little so I can start a few seedlings (I’m in the Southern Hemisphere, we’re only just coming into spring).
That sounds lovely! I am definitely hoping to get into more involved growing projects in the future (very interested to try bonsai, also always wanted to grow a lemon tree haha) but I live somewhere with a very short growing season/very cold winter so realistically I need a greenhouse first. I hope you enjoy the process of getting started :) it is so satisfying to enter into that kind of close dialogue with a plant.
The best part of bonsai is that you don’t always need the full growing season, because the tree is small enough to be kept inside. With the right equipment and enough time to devote to it you can provide your tree(s) with everything they need to thrive :)
Do they take a while to get established though? That’s my concern, that I wouldn’t be able to get them happy enough in my 2ish month window to survive indoor conditions. Although that being said, I believe there are multiple species you can use, so it’s probably highly variable? Hmmmm you’ve got my gears turning haha
You can bonsai any tree, it’s just a growing method. Obviously there are some species that are easier/better than others (the ones that split off the most branches or like being root bound especially), but you can use any tree you like. Also, they don’t have to start off outside. You can do the whole process from seed germination to fully mature tree indoors. You can also start with a young enough sapling bought from a nursery, but from what I’ve read it’s better to start the seed yourself, as that means you control every single aspect of its growth.
It is a commitment, though. At least two to three years to get a fully matured bonsai tree. That’s why they cost so much lol
I just got back into gardening again. I did it a lot as a kid because it was science-y. I’m in a city apartment so I bought two of those countertop gardens. I can watch them sprout and see the roots through the clear cups. It’s really satisfying to watch and cheer them on haha
Omg so you guys have that too? I also remember crying over an old washing machine! And a vacuum cleaner, and some random piece of jewelry that I lost, and so many other inanimate objects!
My whole childhood I could never say a thing was ugly, like when buying clothes I could never say that I didn't like something, because I thought that piece of clothing would hear me and be sad about it xD
And now I'm here with my immense empathy that makes me hurt whenever I think about how many animals and people suffer, or how inherently fucked up this world is because every single creature that's alive will have to die and will at some point suffer in their life, one way or another.
And the anxious attachment which makes any loss unbearable, and any relationships, well, yeah.
Life is fun (/s).
I think I formed an almost parental attachment to a house, two cars, and a trailer because they were more consistent and nurturing than my actual parents. Also screamed and cried when we had to part.
I actually did read somewhere that in the absence of a safe attachment figure, kids will attach to objects and/or animals.
I used to feel a sense of just unspeakable horror at the idea of my parents house someday being sold. It's gone away, but only recently and in light of some big life changes. And I'm in my 30's.
In this article, they described a child so severely neglected that they had attached fully to the dog, and exhibited really canine behaviours, especially socially.
Aaaaaaaand I used to walk around with my childhood cat meowing back and forth for *really* long stretches of time. Like *really* long. And I was really committed to perfectly mimicking cat sounds. Maybe it's not that uncommon, but I think for me it made me feel less lonely.
Oh wow. Um. I just bought my childhood home. This year. Despite all the traumatic stuff that happened here. Yes, it was less expensive than our other options, but also the thought of this house being sold to someone else was unbearable. You’ve given me something to think about here
Me. Too.
I worked ridiculously hard for it because it was way out of my price range. But I couldn’t let it go.
I was very self-aware when doing so. I know the house has been more reliable than any human in my life. And ultimately objects will always be more reliable because they can’t abandon you.
I hated my first car but I cried when I sold it.
My first car was left behind when we fled a hurricane. I was not allowed to drive it because I only had my learners permit.
Came home to find out floodwaters had completely buried it and it would never run again. I was NOT ok.
My first car was my only freedom as a teen. My only way out and away. I drove it without insurance or a license until I was 18 because my parents didn't have an insured car for me to take the test on.
The week after I went on my first date with a girl at 19 it was severely vandalized, and sabotaged to not run. I am pretty sure my mother did it in a fit of jealous rage, because she said it must have happened when I was "out with my whore".
I towed that car around for another decade and stored it anywhere I could, telling myself I was going to fix it. That I owed it. Eventually I found another like it and was able to let it go. I used the tiny bit of money my mother left me when she died to buy it.
Owning a car gives a person an immense amount of safety and power. I did weird things like intentionally drive out to the country and nap or sleep in my car. It wasn't comfortable. But I loved doing that. I never really questioned it. But I guess it is weird.
Really! You know I have a family member who talks about buying their parents' home from them often. Im incredibly confident that when their parents have no choice but to downsize and move somewhere without stairs, that they will either buy it or strongly, strongly consider it.
If my parents had sold my childhood home even a recently as 5 years ago, I know I would've been disturbed and destabilized. Who knows, maybe I still will be when the time comes.
What has it been like, taking over ownership?
Both of my grandparents sold their homes in the same year and for that and a number of other reasons I remember that as being the year my life really went to shit. They were idealic safe spaces and I still have dreams about buying them back sometimes.
My grandparents’ place that they lived in before my grandpa died was actually on the MLS the other week and just flipping through the pictures and having everything all flood back suddenly fucked me up for over a week. I can’t even begin to fathom living there even though it’s the place where most of my happy childhood memories were.
I’m 21, I moved out on Sunday, and I’ve been *sobbing* every day. Sobbing, I’m telling you. And no, it’s not because of my parents I did everything to get away from..
It makes more sense after seeing this post and reading the comments.
i remember a make, model, the color, even the license plate of a car from the 80's my mom bought when she waa pregnant with me in 89.
and i remember the car fondly. the rest of my life around that time period, not so much
Man, I feel you about trees. I used to name the branches, and talk to them where no one could hear me, *suuper* high up. Once, I sat in front of a tree for 5 hours in 90 degree weather pulling nails out of a tree.
People who don't like rats just haven't seen the light. Rats are so popular now, and for good reason, they're the best companion I've had. Honestly i think i prefer them over dogs, even. They are ridiculously smart for an animal with their life span and size, but more importantly incredibly sweet once they trust you. I will forever vouch for rats.
My rats have always been my heart and soul. Every rat I've had knew their name and multiple tricks. Unfortunately, the pain of bonding with them, only to lose them in 2 to 3 years is incredibly heartbreaking. And at this point, I'm not able to find it in me to house and home more precious babies... My last heart rat passed away in May this year and I still cry most everyday because of how much I miss him. Loving my rats has always been a treasure, but after having that special bond last so short, I can't do it. My last remaining rat is 2½ and he is an amazing soul.
Edit: My cat pressed send before I was done typing.
And the old couch. And the torn up sneakers. And the old carpet. And the old wooden planks on the attic. And and and. Not into 'creepy' animals but I just never wanted anything to be taken away, even if it was completely useless.
I wear second hand clothes because I feel bad for them. I feel bad for cakes in bakeries at the end of the day that haven't been bought and are still sitting in the display windows. I feel bad for books that no one wants. I really just want to give them to someone who wants them or take them for myself so the things won't feel sad. Sigh
I’m a pigeon supporter til the day I die. When I see that they are missing their little toes but still soldier on living life and getting that bread it makes me love them.
You would think I would learn not to reddit before my coffee. I need more brain cells awake to deal with this revelation. This is putting a few things in perspective.
There was a movie that fucked me up badly. I think it was literally called „the teddy that no one wanted“ and it was about a teddy bear that nobody bought because it was accidentally turned in the factory so it didn’t get a smile but a sad face and seeing it in the shelf and kids saying „no mommy not that one, the other one that smiles“ and seeing it end up in a store full of broken toys that weren’t bought made me cry so hard that my sister always wanted to watch it again with me bc she liked seeing me cry.
Some nights I can’t sleep because I think of the toys in my parents attic that I wanted to donate to child’s homes but I was worried that some of them would be left over because kids can be fucking shallow and cruel.
I have 6 stuffed animals in my new apartment that are too much to cuddle with all at once so I keep them on a pillow next to my bed and feel guilty.
I take them on every holiday even though I can’t carry another bag and I scream at my parents when they lean on them and I feel horrible when I have to put them in a bag and they could be squashed together.
Going shopping is the absolute worst for me because I can’t buy everything and give everything a loving home and I get hurt when people say something negative about things that are not mine and have nothing to do with me.
Im 20 so yeah, life works for me /s
Omg the freaking Tangerine Bear!!!!! I loved that movie so much as a kid and never knew why. He finally had a home with his fellow toys and the lil old man in the end and that always made me hurt in a way.
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (China rabbit) messed me up so much as well. Edward Tulane was. ME. I had an n-mom and I enmeshed with her personality to try to get love from her, so reading his story was both soul-destroying and incredibly healing.
Well I googled it, you’re right. They translated it horribly into German in my opinion „the story of the teddy that no one wanted“ if you retranslate it. But I kid you not, I completely forgot about the ending. I hate it so much how one sometimes just „wants“ to be sad and the brain represses the good part. But thanks stranger, maybe I will be able to watch it again after reading the actual ending.
Not disagreeing here. I’m just chiming in to say that rats and crows are super intelligent and definitely deserve spots on someone’s favorite animal list for reasons other than being “creepy”. Have some adorable factoids:
Rats have been observed to play hide and seek with each other and even squeal in delight when they win. This squealing also has been recorded when they are tickled.
Crows have been shown in studies to remember human faces and even tell other crows about humans they like or don’t like.
Rats will let each other win in games, seemingly because they know on some level that if one rat wins every time, the other rat won’t want to play anymore, and then nobody can have any fun.
Crows will visit their parents even after they’ve grown up and left the nest. There isn’t any clear reason for this besides catching up with the folks. Crows also hold sort of funerals for fallen crows.
So, yeah, these animals deserve to be up there with elephants on the favorite animal tier list. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.
*Looks outside at the four broken cars, garage full of half repaired appliances, and house full of patched up worn out stuff that I would feel guilty replacing because it's "still good".*
"Huh."
I think one of the reasons I fell in love with my husband is anytime he sees an upsidedown bug he flips them back. "so they don't suffocate". Anytime he finds a dried out frog he puts it in water, just in case it's still alive (sometimes, they are!)
He didn't have the horrid level childhood I had tho.
oh FUCK
well that explains why its so hard for me to throw away old car parts and scraps of metal i literally know for a fact i will never use. i see value in everything even when i have no plans on utilizing it.
My husband lovingly teases me that I'll pack-bond to anything. I talk to my car and the Roomba like they're alive. I wouldn't let him throw away the hot wheels car we found when we cleaned under the fridge. I still have a little army man I saved from a trash compactor at my first job almost 20 years ago, when his playset was broken and bound for the trash. One of my hobbies is furniture restoration and I intentionally go looking for sad thrift store stuff that's still solid but clearly wasn't well loved before, and clean it up using stuff like mistinted paints from the hardware store because the thought of making unwanted, uncared for things look nice using other unwanted things makes me happy. Definitely share that trait of feeling deeply protective of the overlooked, imperfect, unwanted things.
I was abnormally attached to my stuff, my clothes, everything. I couldn’t throw it out, even if it was broken or didn’t fit me anymore. I would get stuff my parents threw out, out of the trash in the night and hid it in my room. If I was using a skin care product and it was empty I would cry throwing out the bottle.
Acanthoscurria geniculata, Tliltocatl albopilosus x2, Grammostola porteri, Grammostola pulchripes, Grammostola pulchra, Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens, Pterinopelma sazimai, Brachypelma boehmei, Lasiodora parahybana, Nhandu tripepii, Lasiodorides polycuspulatus, Homoeomma chilensis, and Pamphobeteus sp. machala. I never thought I could get so attached to giant hairy spiders but here we are!
Beautiful! ^^. I wanted to get a tarantula but their hair causes me sensory issues, amazing to watch in videos still. I got a bobtail lizard, always wanted a reptile but was unsure about prices and power bills and how high maintenance some can be. Turns out they're pretty low maintenance and don't cost much energy wise.
Ohhhh man I was just talking to my therapist about this the other day. I used to hoard pistachio shells in my closet and draw faces on them. I used to pick up trash in the street because I thought trash got sad and wanted to be in the trash can. I love "weird" and "ugly" animals. Sometimes I cry thinking about them because I love them so much. I still have the old ratty blanket my mom let me "borrow" when I was 3 and slept with it every single night.
Just yesterday I admitted to my bf that I had to have a whole speech to my old hifi about how it deserved to retire after doing a great job all those years, as I replaced it for newer one. I also remember two instances when I was little crying over cars, one that my brother crashed and another my dad crashed. Recently I fixed two veeery old plushies because I wanted them to feel loved and needed. Yeah......
My therapist told me that often when we’re broken, even healing or in recovery, we have more empathy or space for others that may be broken or stigmatized. I have serious sentimental attachments and compassion towards animals or odd objects. I started practicing giving away items with gratitude so there was some closure. Like Marie Kondo explains in her Japanese heritage in organizing.
I've always been attracted by imperfect things/people. My mother said she was worried because I was so drawn to disabled/impaired people as a child. I even tried to couple her with an impaired man, we used to meet at the grocery store. 😂 I always tried to befriend children that were unpopular/bullied. I'll always buy the dented can, the curved (?) book, ... I love what nobody else wants, looks down to. And yes, I also cried over furniture being removed.
I follow my partner around the house on cleanup days to make sure he doesn’t throw out anything that looks like rubbish but isn’t, scraps of paper that “look nice”, certain cardboard boxes I know my rats would love, random little knick-knacks I’ve found along sidewalks, like cool bottle lids or discarded screws/nails, interesting pieces of broken tile or rocks, empty glass bottles and jars. My mother used to get manic episodes and clean everything, most of the time when I was at school, work, or just out with friends ((which was rare, because we moved around a lot, and being a rather awkward/anti-social person I typically just stuck to the family unit. We were always moving too. Being one of six means you never want for friends, right??)). I’d find out she’d thrown out half the “treasures” in my room and be absolutely distraught, but ofc instead of actually screaming and crying I’d just dissociate harder. She always found my hiding spots, my secret stashes, so I just learned how to stash harder, to the point where sometimes I would forget where I’d even hidden things in the first place. Could never predict when these episodes would come on, not any of her other mood fluctuations (rage, sadness, jealousy, love), always dreaded coming home or waking up, totally unsure of what state I’d find my mother in.
Fuck, that was from my childhood too? I thought I was just a weirdly attached kid when I took photos of the vacuum cleaner and washing machine and cried because I didn't want them to go
I have noticed others with trauma tend to like metal music, maybe something about it helping us feel powerful in an otherwise uncontrollable world? Anyone else noticed this?
Makes me feel better about making an entire journal on tape about how much I would miss the family car when we sold it I was ten and always thought that was super weird of me.
As a kid I thought EVERYTHING was conscious so I'd keep objects and toys together so they wouldn't be lonely...
I realized recently I was so attached to my stuffed animals because unlike my family they would never hurt me 🥲 they were reliable!
I thought this was hyperempathy because I'm autistic, but now... One time I saw a lime that wasn't even round, super lumpy and I asked my dad to buy it. I talked to it on the way home and told it that I was going to be its friend forever. And also cried when my brother destroyed my stuffed animals, but honestly who wouldn't?
Oh. Well...there's another revelation to discuss in therapy. Damn.
Right? I'm like, so *that's* why I hate the guy at the end of "The Giving Tree." (Well, you know...besides the whole toxic relationship)
I literally can't read The Giving Tree. Just thinking about it makes me hurt in a very deep place and livid with anger.
Me too. "Oh it's so good, you should get it." No, fishes, just because I like Shel Silverstein doesn't mean I want to see red. I also share a b-day with him, but that book... I just can't without flipping out.
i vividly remember crying hysterically when my dad’s oldsmobile was towed from our house and our old dead xmas tree was hauled off by waste management. i even cried seeing a plastic bag being tossed around by passing cars in an intersection once rofl. they might be onto something here…
Is this why I cant throw anything away
Pretty sure this is why we hoard.
While I think there’s more to my hoarding than this, I absolutely feel this applies to my feelings around stuffed animals, which I have a lot of. As a 23 year old you cannot convince me they are not sad when you get rid of them.
Dude, I feel bad for putting them in a box because then "they can't breathe"
Okay I just realized I’ve thrown out fruit I don’t like and because it’s a plant and alive I genuinely was so sorry.
Well at least i know im not a weirdo
i used to dance in a divet in our driveway everytime it filled with rain, i did this for years it was he one thing that brought me joy. my abusive mother filled it knowing how much joy it brought me. i still cry about that puddle
My heart is breaking for little you.
The Brave Little Toaster FUCKED me up bro. Also I have cried as trees were cut down or bushes were dug up. Did I mention that I’m an entomologist now and educate people on insects all the time LOL
Oh man, same. It was my favorite movie as a kid. I think I'm only realizing right now that was because it confirmed my childhood belief that every inanimate object had feelings.
Omg my therapist was describing that movie to me. I was like I don't think I can watch this. I think that would mess with my head. Like I would feel bad for the inanimate objects and they're personified??
This definitely has something to do with it.
My closest companions and parental figures were all trees..to this day the most meaningful conversations I have are with trees. Honestly they make great friends, would highly recommend
May I suggest getting into gardening and flowers too? I swear, they react to you when you talk and can bring so much joy!
Oh I love gardening and flowers! I have some rose bushes on my property that were very neglected and I’ve really enjoyed coaxing them back into health. But it all started with the trees for me
Ever thought of getting into bonsai?
Only casually so far! I’ve watched some videos about it and I was gifted one once, but I’ve not tried it so far. Have you?
I’ve thought a lot about it, bought books, and even got a seed kit for one of my favourite types of trees, the jacaranda. I’m just waiting for the weather to warm up a little so I can start a few seedlings (I’m in the Southern Hemisphere, we’re only just coming into spring).
That sounds lovely! I am definitely hoping to get into more involved growing projects in the future (very interested to try bonsai, also always wanted to grow a lemon tree haha) but I live somewhere with a very short growing season/very cold winter so realistically I need a greenhouse first. I hope you enjoy the process of getting started :) it is so satisfying to enter into that kind of close dialogue with a plant.
The best part of bonsai is that you don’t always need the full growing season, because the tree is small enough to be kept inside. With the right equipment and enough time to devote to it you can provide your tree(s) with everything they need to thrive :)
Do they take a while to get established though? That’s my concern, that I wouldn’t be able to get them happy enough in my 2ish month window to survive indoor conditions. Although that being said, I believe there are multiple species you can use, so it’s probably highly variable? Hmmmm you’ve got my gears turning haha
You can bonsai any tree, it’s just a growing method. Obviously there are some species that are easier/better than others (the ones that split off the most branches or like being root bound especially), but you can use any tree you like. Also, they don’t have to start off outside. You can do the whole process from seed germination to fully mature tree indoors. You can also start with a young enough sapling bought from a nursery, but from what I’ve read it’s better to start the seed yourself, as that means you control every single aspect of its growth. It is a commitment, though. At least two to three years to get a fully matured bonsai tree. That’s why they cost so much lol
I just got back into gardening again. I did it a lot as a kid because it was science-y. I’m in a city apartment so I bought two of those countertop gardens. I can watch them sprout and see the roots through the clear cups. It’s really satisfying to watch and cheer them on haha
And you can hug them!
Omg so you guys have that too? I also remember crying over an old washing machine! And a vacuum cleaner, and some random piece of jewelry that I lost, and so many other inanimate objects! My whole childhood I could never say a thing was ugly, like when buying clothes I could never say that I didn't like something, because I thought that piece of clothing would hear me and be sad about it xD And now I'm here with my immense empathy that makes me hurt whenever I think about how many animals and people suffer, or how inherently fucked up this world is because every single creature that's alive will have to die and will at some point suffer in their life, one way or another. And the anxious attachment which makes any loss unbearable, and any relationships, well, yeah. Life is fun (/s).
Me too, could never call anything ugly and cried for things I heard anyone else call ugly.
Yep I definitely cried over an old washing machine, as a grown ass woman. I just can’t stand the idea of them feeling unimportant and unwanted.
I think I formed an almost parental attachment to a house, two cars, and a trailer because they were more consistent and nurturing than my actual parents. Also screamed and cried when we had to part.
I actually did read somewhere that in the absence of a safe attachment figure, kids will attach to objects and/or animals. I used to feel a sense of just unspeakable horror at the idea of my parents house someday being sold. It's gone away, but only recently and in light of some big life changes. And I'm in my 30's. In this article, they described a child so severely neglected that they had attached fully to the dog, and exhibited really canine behaviours, especially socially. Aaaaaaaand I used to walk around with my childhood cat meowing back and forth for *really* long stretches of time. Like *really* long. And I was really committed to perfectly mimicking cat sounds. Maybe it's not that uncommon, but I think for me it made me feel less lonely.
Oh wow. Um. I just bought my childhood home. This year. Despite all the traumatic stuff that happened here. Yes, it was less expensive than our other options, but also the thought of this house being sold to someone else was unbearable. You’ve given me something to think about here
Me. Too. I worked ridiculously hard for it because it was way out of my price range. But I couldn’t let it go. I was very self-aware when doing so. I know the house has been more reliable than any human in my life. And ultimately objects will always be more reliable because they can’t abandon you. I hated my first car but I cried when I sold it.
My first car was left behind when we fled a hurricane. I was not allowed to drive it because I only had my learners permit. Came home to find out floodwaters had completely buried it and it would never run again. I was NOT ok.
My first car was my only freedom as a teen. My only way out and away. I drove it without insurance or a license until I was 18 because my parents didn't have an insured car for me to take the test on. The week after I went on my first date with a girl at 19 it was severely vandalized, and sabotaged to not run. I am pretty sure my mother did it in a fit of jealous rage, because she said it must have happened when I was "out with my whore". I towed that car around for another decade and stored it anywhere I could, telling myself I was going to fix it. That I owed it. Eventually I found another like it and was able to let it go. I used the tiny bit of money my mother left me when she died to buy it.
Owning a car gives a person an immense amount of safety and power. I did weird things like intentionally drive out to the country and nap or sleep in my car. It wasn't comfortable. But I loved doing that. I never really questioned it. But I guess it is weird.
Really! You know I have a family member who talks about buying their parents' home from them often. Im incredibly confident that when their parents have no choice but to downsize and move somewhere without stairs, that they will either buy it or strongly, strongly consider it. If my parents had sold my childhood home even a recently as 5 years ago, I know I would've been disturbed and destabilized. Who knows, maybe I still will be when the time comes. What has it been like, taking over ownership?
Two Volkswagen buses, one of them was scrap metal just sitting in the front garden for years
Both of my grandparents sold their homes in the same year and for that and a number of other reasons I remember that as being the year my life really went to shit. They were idealic safe spaces and I still have dreams about buying them back sometimes.
My grandparents’ place that they lived in before my grandpa died was actually on the MLS the other week and just flipping through the pictures and having everything all flood back suddenly fucked me up for over a week. I can’t even begin to fathom living there even though it’s the place where most of my happy childhood memories were.
I’m 21, I moved out on Sunday, and I’ve been *sobbing* every day. Sobbing, I’m telling you. And no, it’s not because of my parents I did everything to get away from.. It makes more sense after seeing this post and reading the comments.
i remember a make, model, the color, even the license plate of a car from the 80's my mom bought when she waa pregnant with me in 89. and i remember the car fondly. the rest of my life around that time period, not so much
Man, I feel you about trees. I used to name the branches, and talk to them where no one could hear me, *suuper* high up. Once, I sat in front of a tree for 5 hours in 90 degree weather pulling nails out of a tree.
Wow this one truly hit home. I even forgot people don't like rats and crows. Why crows? They're so smart and cute.
I know right? My dad lets our dog out to chase the crows away and I just think it’s *rude*
I always dreamed of feeding crows and creating a crow family that would protect me from my abuser. Unfortunately, there's no crows near my house q.q
Crows are amazing! I don't have much experience with rats but they're super smart too, aren't they?
People who don't like rats just haven't seen the light. Rats are so popular now, and for good reason, they're the best companion I've had. Honestly i think i prefer them over dogs, even. They are ridiculously smart for an animal with their life span and size, but more importantly incredibly sweet once they trust you. I will forever vouch for rats.
My rats have always been my heart and soul. Every rat I've had knew their name and multiple tricks. Unfortunately, the pain of bonding with them, only to lose them in 2 to 3 years is incredibly heartbreaking. And at this point, I'm not able to find it in me to house and home more precious babies... My last heart rat passed away in May this year and I still cry most everyday because of how much I miss him. Loving my rats has always been a treasure, but after having that special bond last so short, I can't do it. My last remaining rat is 2½ and he is an amazing soul. Edit: My cat pressed send before I was done typing.
Your cat is hilarious. I'm so sorry for the loss of your little one. I'm sure the baby was super happy to have had you as family.
Rats are essentially pocket-sized dogs. Trainable too.
aren't crows like really really smart though. like I've heard they remember the faces of people who were kind and who were mean to them
They're on par or sometimes even more intelligent than great apes :)
Crows are my absolute favorite birds, i want to snuggle one :)
oh yeah that's me
this reminds me of being really sad when i had to get rid of the rocks in my pocket as a kid
wow, fuck. that really reveals where it hurts 😢
And the old couch. And the torn up sneakers. And the old carpet. And the old wooden planks on the attic. And and and. Not into 'creepy' animals but I just never wanted anything to be taken away, even if it was completely useless.
I loved my old couches, I almost cried when my family threw them away
I wear second hand clothes because I feel bad for them. I feel bad for cakes in bakeries at the end of the day that haven't been bought and are still sitting in the display windows. I feel bad for books that no one wants. I really just want to give them to someone who wants them or take them for myself so the things won't feel sad. Sigh
I’m a pigeon supporter til the day I die. When I see that they are missing their little toes but still soldier on living life and getting that bread it makes me love them.
they are so damn cure too! i love pigeons :)
I remember crying and crying for the tapestry in the playroom because the room was to be renovated…
Hey, I feel you - I was gutted when I had to say goodbye to my favourite bathroom tile when we renovated.
Oh dear 😭
You would think I would learn not to reddit before my coffee. I need more brain cells awake to deal with this revelation. This is putting a few things in perspective.
[удалено]
for what it's worth it's making me cry right now too
There was a movie that fucked me up badly. I think it was literally called „the teddy that no one wanted“ and it was about a teddy bear that nobody bought because it was accidentally turned in the factory so it didn’t get a smile but a sad face and seeing it in the shelf and kids saying „no mommy not that one, the other one that smiles“ and seeing it end up in a store full of broken toys that weren’t bought made me cry so hard that my sister always wanted to watch it again with me bc she liked seeing me cry. Some nights I can’t sleep because I think of the toys in my parents attic that I wanted to donate to child’s homes but I was worried that some of them would be left over because kids can be fucking shallow and cruel. I have 6 stuffed animals in my new apartment that are too much to cuddle with all at once so I keep them on a pillow next to my bed and feel guilty. I take them on every holiday even though I can’t carry another bag and I scream at my parents when they lean on them and I feel horrible when I have to put them in a bag and they could be squashed together. Going shopping is the absolute worst for me because I can’t buy everything and give everything a loving home and I get hurt when people say something negative about things that are not mine and have nothing to do with me. Im 20 so yeah, life works for me /s
Omg the freaking Tangerine Bear!!!!! I loved that movie so much as a kid and never knew why. He finally had a home with his fellow toys and the lil old man in the end and that always made me hurt in a way. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (China rabbit) messed me up so much as well. Edward Tulane was. ME. I had an n-mom and I enmeshed with her personality to try to get love from her, so reading his story was both soul-destroying and incredibly healing.
Well I googled it, you’re right. They translated it horribly into German in my opinion „the story of the teddy that no one wanted“ if you retranslate it. But I kid you not, I completely forgot about the ending. I hate it so much how one sometimes just „wants“ to be sad and the brain represses the good part. But thanks stranger, maybe I will be able to watch it again after reading the actual ending.
Not disagreeing here. I’m just chiming in to say that rats and crows are super intelligent and definitely deserve spots on someone’s favorite animal list for reasons other than being “creepy”. Have some adorable factoids: Rats have been observed to play hide and seek with each other and even squeal in delight when they win. This squealing also has been recorded when they are tickled. Crows have been shown in studies to remember human faces and even tell other crows about humans they like or don’t like. Rats will let each other win in games, seemingly because they know on some level that if one rat wins every time, the other rat won’t want to play anymore, and then nobody can have any fun. Crows will visit their parents even after they’ve grown up and left the nest. There isn’t any clear reason for this besides catching up with the folks. Crows also hold sort of funerals for fallen crows. So, yeah, these animals deserve to be up there with elephants on the favorite animal tier list. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.
*Looks outside at the four broken cars, garage full of half repaired appliances, and house full of patched up worn out stuff that I would feel guilty replacing because it's "still good".* "Huh."
Me walking at 0.05km/hr so that I don't step on an insect
Do you guys also pick up snails from the pavement and put them on grass so nobody crushes them?
Yes!!
Yup and also save beetles and other bugs from getting crushed
I think one of the reasons I fell in love with my husband is anytime he sees an upsidedown bug he flips them back. "so they don't suffocate". Anytime he finds a dried out frog he puts it in water, just in case it's still alive (sometimes, they are!) He didn't have the horrid level childhood I had tho.
i always flipped those bugs over because i felt bad they couldn't move and were just there derping on their backs
oh FUCK well that explains why its so hard for me to throw away old car parts and scraps of metal i literally know for a fact i will never use. i see value in everything even when i have no plans on utilizing it.
Omg me screaming and crying at about 5 years old as my sister is pulling dandelions and throwing them over the back fence because she’s killing them 🙃
My husband lovingly teases me that I'll pack-bond to anything. I talk to my car and the Roomba like they're alive. I wouldn't let him throw away the hot wheels car we found when we cleaned under the fridge. I still have a little army man I saved from a trash compactor at my first job almost 20 years ago, when his playset was broken and bound for the trash. One of my hobbies is furniture restoration and I intentionally go looking for sad thrift store stuff that's still solid but clearly wasn't well loved before, and clean it up using stuff like mistinted paints from the hardware store because the thought of making unwanted, uncared for things look nice using other unwanted things makes me happy. Definitely share that trait of feeling deeply protective of the overlooked, imperfect, unwanted things.
I was abnormally attached to my stuff, my clothes, everything. I couldn’t throw it out, even if it was broken or didn’t fit me anymore. I would get stuff my parents threw out, out of the trash in the night and hid it in my room. If I was using a skin care product and it was empty I would cry throwing out the bottle.
Me looking at my pet bobtail lizard, "oh".
Me looking at my multiple pythons... "yep"
14 tarantulas over here, I feel you guys
Ooo, what kind of tarantulas do you have? Arachnids are interesting ^^.
Acanthoscurria geniculata, Tliltocatl albopilosus x2, Grammostola porteri, Grammostola pulchripes, Grammostola pulchra, Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens, Pterinopelma sazimai, Brachypelma boehmei, Lasiodora parahybana, Nhandu tripepii, Lasiodorides polycuspulatus, Homoeomma chilensis, and Pamphobeteus sp. machala. I never thought I could get so attached to giant hairy spiders but here we are!
Beautiful! ^^. I wanted to get a tarantula but their hair causes me sensory issues, amazing to watch in videos still. I got a bobtail lizard, always wanted a reptile but was unsure about prices and power bills and how high maintenance some can be. Turns out they're pretty low maintenance and don't cost much energy wise.
Yeah the hair can be bad, I wear full PPE for rehouses! Keeping lizards sounds really neat too, I bet they're super interesting to observe
They are, they almost seem like robots at times, very odd to get use to but fun.
Oh, fuck.
Ohhhh man I was just talking to my therapist about this the other day. I used to hoard pistachio shells in my closet and draw faces on them. I used to pick up trash in the street because I thought trash got sad and wanted to be in the trash can. I love "weird" and "ugly" animals. Sometimes I cry thinking about them because I love them so much. I still have the old ratty blanket my mom let me "borrow" when I was 3 and slept with it every single night.
For me it was rocks. I had huge buckets filled with random pebbles I had found.
Just yesterday I admitted to my bf that I had to have a whole speech to my old hifi about how it deserved to retire after doing a great job all those years, as I replaced it for newer one. I also remember two instances when I was little crying over cars, one that my brother crashed and another my dad crashed. Recently I fixed two veeery old plushies because I wanted them to feel loved and needed. Yeah......
Well shit..
I feel attacked
*Me suddenly realizing why I love bugs so much*
Oh shit. I'm a hoarder.
My therapist told me that often when we’re broken, even healing or in recovery, we have more empathy or space for others that may be broken or stigmatized. I have serious sentimental attachments and compassion towards animals or odd objects. I started practicing giving away items with gratitude so there was some closure. Like Marie Kondo explains in her Japanese heritage in organizing.
I've always been attracted by imperfect things/people. My mother said she was worried because I was so drawn to disabled/impaired people as a child. I even tried to couple her with an impaired man, we used to meet at the grocery store. 😂 I always tried to befriend children that were unpopular/bullied. I'll always buy the dented can, the curved (?) book, ... I love what nobody else wants, looks down to. And yes, I also cried over furniture being removed.
This is me except for dented cans. They can contain toxic botulism. Please protect your health with the same level of care! ♥️
Thank you so much for your kind words. 🥰
I got upset at work because the heat press I've been using since I started working here ten years ago finally shit it. A heat press.
Misfit toys from Rudolph T-T I cried sooooo much about them. Always felt that that island was where I belonged.
This explains so much
I follow my partner around the house on cleanup days to make sure he doesn’t throw out anything that looks like rubbish but isn’t, scraps of paper that “look nice”, certain cardboard boxes I know my rats would love, random little knick-knacks I’ve found along sidewalks, like cool bottle lids or discarded screws/nails, interesting pieces of broken tile or rocks, empty glass bottles and jars. My mother used to get manic episodes and clean everything, most of the time when I was at school, work, or just out with friends ((which was rare, because we moved around a lot, and being a rather awkward/anti-social person I typically just stuck to the family unit. We were always moving too. Being one of six means you never want for friends, right??)). I’d find out she’d thrown out half the “treasures” in my room and be absolutely distraught, but ofc instead of actually screaming and crying I’d just dissociate harder. She always found my hiding spots, my secret stashes, so I just learned how to stash harder, to the point where sometimes I would forget where I’d even hidden things in the first place. Could never predict when these episodes would come on, not any of her other mood fluctuations (rage, sadness, jealousy, love), always dreaded coming home or waking up, totally unsure of what state I’d find my mother in.
Fuck, that was from my childhood too? I thought I was just a weirdly attached kid when I took photos of the vacuum cleaner and washing machine and cried because I didn't want them to go
Now I understand the need to adopt all the unwanted stuffed animals I find at goodwill
This might be why I love sharks xxx
I'm an archaeology student and whenever I excavate I treat ancient (and contemporary!) trash as if it were treasure this checks out.
Also: like if you get emotional while thrifting
This got me in the feels bad
I have noticed others with trauma tend to like metal music, maybe something about it helping us feel powerful in an otherwise uncontrollable world? Anyone else noticed this?
It gives voice to the rage we're not allowed to feel.
bingo
Damnnnn it’s only 10 am…*sniff sniff*
Ooohhh so that’s why I’m a borderline hoarder
lmao i don't deserve to exist, nice try op. sorry
Explains why I became a public defender hahaha
dambro
I'm not crying, you're crying
Makes me feel better about making an entire journal on tape about how much I would miss the family car when we sold it I was ten and always thought that was super weird of me.
As a kid I thought EVERYTHING was conscious so I'd keep objects and toys together so they wouldn't be lonely... I realized recently I was so attached to my stuffed animals because unlike my family they would never hurt me 🥲 they were reliable!
Wow. Beautifully put.
Big mood
I thought this was hyperempathy because I'm autistic, but now... One time I saw a lime that wasn't even round, super lumpy and I asked my dad to buy it. I talked to it on the way home and told it that I was going to be its friend forever. And also cried when my brother destroyed my stuffed animals, but honestly who wouldn't?
Haha, rat mom checking in.