Shalom Chaim, ma nishma?
You mentioned the elder couple that are pack rats.. it sounds nearly identical to my wonderful 100 year old great aunt, and her son. She also has a huge apartment in Queens, and he has a good size apartment in Manhattan.. both apartments are filled with literally THOUSANDS of newspapers. It's scary to look at and that's one of the main reasons why I am stopping this now. I haven't been buying anything, and I have started to organize some stuff, and throw a lot away.. so I'm starting off right.
You mentioned on Ask JTF last week that seeing a woman half naked (I assume you mean in a bikini) would destroy a man's soul. Now, whether you go to a beach or not, there are lingerie advertisements everywhere you go. Women dress very skimpy in the street all the time as well, so it's very hard not to see this. Is the soul really destroyed for good when this happens?
I don't know if my soul has been destroyed, but I can tell you that when I see a beautiful girl dressed well, I get angry, frustrated and jealous. And I think to myself "why can't I have a girl like that" .. or a girlfriend period. Although I think my conservative ideology makes it difficult to find a girl in NYC, but that's another story. I think that anger, frustration and jealousy do hurt a man's soul.. is that what you mean by that? If not, can you be more specific on what you mean by the destruction of a man's soul based on seeing a half-naked woman?
Toda raba,
Vito