Clean-Up

It's clean-up day. For weeks the mess has been accumulating. I make notes on post-its, scraps of paper, folded halves of used foolscap and set them aside so they won't be forgotten. They sink down to ever deeper levels in the piles, beneath the bills I have postponed paying, the requests for political contributions and donations to charities, the advertisements and notifications that somehow seemed of interest--but not immediately. Then there are the multiple drafts and hard copies of things I have been working on, some finished, some likely never to reach completion. A jury summons, along with an excuse. A check I forget to send in to the bank. All kinds of trash and treasures.

Well, today's the day. It's time to organize, file, and trash. Time to unbury my office from the mountains--well, the hillocks--of paper. Think of it as a metaphor for clearing out the mind. A useful practice. And, I remind myself, don't forget to breathe. You'll feel a lot better for it.