More or Less

More

This is my desk, or was my desk this morning. Today it became a scary  place to dwell. In the past I had become quite accustomed to being in this mass clutter and managed to find what I needed with minimal distress. There were moments when I had to commit to digging about, but they were preferred to figuring out a filing system and then remembering what it was. So, I just kept everything in easy to see piles. But this morning I sat down with my cup of coffee - visible near the mouse - and there was a pile slide. A worse disaster would have been all those papers on the floor. Thus began the clearing.

The hardest part was the mass of recycled paper I keep. Well, recycled everything. As I have such a bounty, I decided to actually recycle the scraps I have saved. I have lots of nice note books and pads, along with journals and sticky notes. I use pen and paper for notes, ideas, quotes, thoughts, and "figuring." Also, with my recent phone crash I lost all my data - meaning, ideas, thoughts, story lines, numbers, passwords, etc - that were stored in what seemed to be a wonderful app. November is National Novel Writing Month and I am committed to 50,000 words in 30 days. My ideas lost, I must think again. This time on paper.

While clearing all that stuff was intense, it was quite fun as well. I found photos tossed in the piles and left there for the last few years. I enjoyed rereading birthday and holiday cards, saved quotes (before app and smartphones), and photos sent from friends. Most of my photos are digital; holding prints becomes nostalgic giving a sense of depth to the memories.

In the process, I gathered a bundle of pencils and pens I will leave at work, color pencils, markers and crayons for my grand-daughter, and a collection I will reserve for myself (and actually store in the drawer). There's still quite a bit to wade through, but keeping the desk clear will be my new priority. Perhaps with all this open space more ideas will begin to flow.

Less. Way Less.