Tidying Up

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

If you cannot think of anything to write, try cleaning or organizing your desk or Writer's Crate. Doing something mindless like dusting or tossing old papers, gives your conscious mind something to focus on, but your subconscious is free to roam and come up with ideas.

          We’ve been spring cleaning the house as many friends and relatives will be visiting this summer. Recycling old papers and magazines, tossing junk, and boxing up donations is invigorating. A clean and organized space has new energy, but clean and organize to your own specifications.

          I’m a vertical organizer, i.e., a pile person, so my idea of organized may not match most people’s—and that’s okay. I’m the one who works in my office so it only has to meet my standard. While others may think I’m disorganized, I can find what I need within a moment or two.

          Like everyone else, I can be surprised at things I find in drawers and cupboards. Out of sight, out of mind so I keep important things in sight.

          I did have fun with the Marie Kondo, author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, method of clothes sorting. She recommends putting every article of your clothing on your bed then deciding quickly whether to keep, donate, or toss them. I thought it would be daunting, but it was the easiest way to do this. I filled one bag with ripped or stained clothes (mostly with ink as I love red and blue liquid ink Pilot V-Ball pens). Another bag was filled with clothes I rarely wore or new clothes I have never worn to be donated. The rest are in drawers or the closet. No piles anywhere except the laundry hamper—and I can live with that.

          All this cleaning and organizing gave me a visitor-ready house as well as ideas for this post, my Viewpoint column, and my Editor’s Facebook Thoughts. Always fun when a chore turns out to be a creative outlet!    

Word Count for the week of May 28-June 3 was 11,266.