WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21st, 2013
And the clutter overfloweth...
Within the house of id, all of those little objects of our affection were tucked away for safe keeping, but having to extract them for the move, I now look at them as relics...echoes of the past...mere shadow puppets on the wall.
Now stacked up in tall, precarious piles within the house of ego, they appear to be ripe for a toppling. Careening to one side a wee bit too much, the slightest breeze is all it will take to send the entire tower of useless crap spilling to the floor.
Too much emotional attachment to these belongings lack healthy balance, it seems.
It's time to let go of the shit at the bottom of the drawer. You know the concealed stuff I speak of...three tape measures that do not work, bent and twisted plastic school issue rulers, pens that do not write, pencils with petrified erasers, pictures of people nobody wants to frame but fears retribution for throwing away, three keys to what they unlock nobody knows, clipped recipes never cooked, take-out menus from ethnic restaurants never patronized, expired coupons for even more unneeded nonsense. In other words, the pile of shit at the bottom of the drawer contains our unrealized best intentions. The stuff of emotional baggage. Psychological clutter.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Most of the aforementioned list is easy to discard. But those keys...what secrets might they be keeping?
Of course, the list continues on to the point of inducing nausea...and it's not just the bottom of the drawer. This stuff resides in all sorts of neglected places. Some tucked away for safe keeping, some in plain sight, exposed white noise for the world to see.
With the transition to the house of ego approaching 90% completion, it's time to scrutinize. It's time for addition by subtraction. It's time to purge!
Question: "What does this funny looking electronic adapter go to?"
Answer: "It goes to the garbage."
Question: "What is the purpose of this old blue thingy?"
Answer: "The purpose is to throw it in the garbage."
Question: "Where should we put all of these watch batteries, ear plugs, oversized headphones, audio connectors and pennies that I just found in the cupboard that we haven't seen in over four years?"
Answer: "You have to recycle batteries, and throwing away currency is a no-no, but a few of one or both in the trash isn't going to hurt anyone, right?"
The trick, however, is to purge those items that are difficult to discard. Petrified erasers? No worries. Pens with dried ink? No problem.
A handmade blanket that may or may not have too many holes in it that will not withstand many more trips through the washer and dryer but is perfect in every way except that it represents an unhealthy and unnecessary emotional attachment to the past but kinda sorta helps me sleep a little more soundly at night especially with time travelers and boogie monsters popping in from time to time? Uh-oh...the purge process has hit a snag...and this blanket can not afford many more snags. Let's put this aside for a future day of reckoning. Today's just not the day.
A sweatshirt that has endured concerts, sporting events, camping trips, fishing expeditions and long walks on the beach on blustery afternoons? So what if it needs to be sewn up at the hood and pocket regions. So what if the color has significantly faded to the point it looks more pink than red. We've seen too much together, red (pink) sweatshirt and I.
Blanket and Sweatshirt notwithstanding, the purge process will be fairly thorough. We start our new lives tomorrow, leaving the time portals and relics (most of them anyway) behind. I say good riddance. Except for you, blanket and sweatshirt...you're coming with me...and you're riding first class.
Today's Jazz Hands were deployed ad nauseum.
Day two-hundred and thirty-three complete.
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