Losing your Marbles – or not
On December 30, 2020 by Speranza
So hard to believe that The Pandemic year has been almost exactly that now – an entire year. With more intense lockdowns returning this week and the growing, trembling realization that this whole thing may not have been handled as well by our government as we previously thought, I am trying to return to focusing on the few things that I can control here in my own world. Sadly, this must include the rat’s nest that is called my study. I am usually very much on top of this stuff but slowly it has turned into such a landslide of papers, filing and debris that I had to begin a Shred-Off – and this is only Day 2.
I am not going to shred these lovely vintage photos shown here of course but they must be “dealt with” and “handled” and that is the part that slows us all down isn’t it? Then there are those drawers that are full of exceptionally weird things that do not lend themselves to a like-with-like category system (foreign coins from someone else’s trip seem to be a big one here); a single brass ornament I do not especially like but which belonged to my parents; CDs burned for me, yet I no longer have a CD player. I could just toss them but first, I’d like to note the tracks for later streaming via Sonos, so a brief trip down a youtube rabbit hole ensues; a classic, purple Crown Royal bag with precisely three marbles in it; a long piece of ribbon, still in decent shape can now be reunited with the wrapping paper; a trio of petrified glue-sticks, shrunken away from the sides like a grey wizened lipstick – why are they still here; geometry sets, once bought in pairs, since no matter how many we had, there was never a protractor when desperately needed at 9:45pm on a Sunday evening; and pencils! I do not need this many pencils. Ever. But what to do with them? Also, all of them have the eraser tip sheared off rendering them now only suitable for street fighting. The General keeps all pencils (and pens!) obsessively and has, I believe, even more than I do.
This is a long and discouraging process. Yesterday I had to close the drawer and step away for some wine.
At least, I was able to cull and shred ancient income tax returns from the boys’ early work careers as well as receipts, warranties for items I no longer own and the occasional bits of quaint correspondence like phone bills which are no longer even generated. Have I inspired you? New Year’s is the most rewarding time to say good-bye to old rubbish!
You should see my sweater cupboard……culled to just the sweaters I actually wear sometimes. All in individual plastic bags (in case there are moth’s lingering about).
I think I am going crazy when I realize this is how I spend my days. I hope the vaccine arrives soon and it works.
Today my 84 year old mother and I decided to sort through and cull one of her 34 boxes of photos – kid you not! – she has that many, and that does not include the 20 or so albums. The only 20 photos, out of several hundred, she reluctantly agreed to part with were ones of someone’s dog – a dog I have never met and she couldn’t remember ever seeing – in various poses in a garden somewhere. In the same bunch were about 15 photos of a baby – again, unrecognizable to either of us. But he was so cute she would not part with them. I vowed that Sailor Jerry will be helping us cull the next box!
You have really made me laugh today, Helen Thompson.
(And, I hope you feel badly for getting rid of those pics of The Unknown Woofster …)
As for The Sailor, he is always a sought after party guest 🙂
The last time I set to work shredding things, my shredder died in very short order. Too much stuff! My goal for 2021 is to get rid of half of what I own. But what to do about old photos, assorted collectible crap that may or may not have value and meaning? It’s a long haul and I can only accomplish a little bit every day. Good blog, Sue … right on!!
Cheers, Jane! My advice is to do a little – and often!
Stopping altogether (except for wine) seems to be fatal …
You and the Sailor are always a source of inspiration to me. Happy 2021!
The first go round of lockdowns, I decided to cull the filing cabinet. The wee 2 drawer filing cabinet that I swear spawned paper as I worked because how did it all fit in there? It was like one of those clown cars that dozens empty out from. The overheating shredder also contributed to turning what I had thought would be a quick 20 minute task to 5 hours. I have yet to do something with the boxes of photos I have. Like you I’ll bet, the kids’ lives are half on printed photos and half digital and I keep thinking that I need to gather these all together so they have a record of their childhoods before I forget where I stored all the digital ones. An overwhelming task and then I sit on the couch instead with my blanket and coffee and leave that for another day.
Precisely! And that final sentence pretty much summarizes retirement 🙂