Not everyone out there has the inclination, I don't think... but enough people do that it's not unheard of.
When I was much younger I did it a lot, just going through stuff that belonged to my family much like you said. I even became somewhat obsessed with "Harriet the Spy" novels when I was little and would follow people around and take notes on whatever I could to learn more about who they were and what kind of lives they led. (I actually still have some of my old spy notebooks from all the way back to about age 10)
I think it's worth being very careful when you choose to ACT on the inclination, because as you say, it's an invasion of privacy... but the desire to do so is relatively "normal" for some of us.
I think a lot of people with a really strong desire like this end up becoming investigators, for newspapers, police departments, medical teams, etc. I think it just shows that there are positive ways to channel the urge that don't hurt family :)
When I was much younger I did it a lot, just going through stuff that belonged to my family much like you said. I even became somewhat obsessed with "Harriet the Spy" novels when I was little and would follow people around and take notes on whatever I could to learn more about who they were and what kind of lives they led. (I actually still have some of my old spy notebooks from all the way back to about age 10)
I think it's worth being very careful when you choose to ACT on the inclination, because as you say, it's an invasion of privacy... but the desire to do so is relatively "normal" for some of us.
I think a lot of people with a really strong desire like this end up becoming investigators, for newspapers, police departments, medical teams, etc. I think it just shows that there are positive ways to channel the urge that don't hurt family :)