Often on Sunday mornings I'm scrambling to stay still. Check out the headlines, view emails, visit blogs, read the editorials at the Times, and somewhere in that mix get ready for church. Sunday mornings generally don't allow the kind of thoughtful time to write anything useful here. But thanks to facebook I am aware of what is on my mind. The real question is, who cares? Nonetheless...
This is not my desk, though truth be told, it could be. Like rabbits, the clutter multiplies and begins to take over. It seems that at least once a month I do a full-force intervention by clearing everything out of the room to sort through the chaos and attempt to bring order by purging, putting away or setting aside for action.
A very large problem is that there isn't much space to put things away, and so a neat, deliberate pile is placed somewhere out of the way. Another very real problem is that life is full of what I call "minutiae varietals:" things like church business, Pampered Chef, bills and other items all compete for attention and space "within reach" of where I sit at the computer, a vital nerve center of my life. I used to be an organized person. Really, I was.
Back in the days of corporate life no matter how obscured my desk became in the course of the work day I left a tidy desk before heading home. Papers were put back in folders, computer printouts were stacked in a neat pile, and project notebooks were closed and returned to their slot in the cabinet above the desk. The inbox captured miscellaneous memos, notes for reference were tacked to the cubicle wall, and if a stray scrap with a phone number or short-term "to do" list had no place to go it sat out of the way next to the phone. There was plenty of room for a photo or two to add color and personalize the space. Simple. Expedient. Productive.
Maybe that's the answer. Divide the desk. Pampered Chef at one end, church at the other. Somewhere in the middle the essentials of "high finance" can claim prominence so that bill due dates don't get buried under the latest alumni newsletter or a request to update a professional profile. Maybe I will finally implement with regularity the daily, timer-regulated regimen of "the dreaded filing" that will remove a pile, singularly stacked as it is, from its present place of limbo. Maybe I can reclaim the inner organizer. Maybe.
What's on your mind today?
2 comments:
I try to keep "the pile" in one location...lol. And, I have a "bill basket" where all the bills get placed when I open them, so at least they are all in one location. It's always a challenge to be sure. You are so not alone. :c)
Umm...are we related? I have long held some sort of pile management chaos theory-in-action in my home office, though my "professional" office was always organized, neat, and tidy.
I read through some of your back posts as I was off at a retreat last week and took a computer vacation as well. It struck me that my experience at the retreat (The Upper Room's 5-Day Academy for Spiritual Formation) led me to recognizing the hurts that had calcified on my soul...layers to be scraped away and healed by the absolute knowledge of God's love for me.
While at the retreat, we had art supplies available and coloring sheets of various mandalas -- circles with centers, very organized structures, all representing wholeness. I hadn't colored in years and oh, what fun!
You continue to be in my prayers and I will offer my thanksgiving that Mary accompanies you as well!
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