Simplify
Too many things on my mind lately, and even more on my to-do lists. For the past week or so, everything I’ve written I’ve absolutely despised. I’m finding myself stuck somewhere between the dreaded ocean of writer’s block and Oscar-the-Grouch-land. I sat down tonight with my to-do list and Just. Couldn’t. Do it.
Then I took a 20 min. power nap. (LOL…I really just turned the lights off for 20 minutes and pretended to rest while the to-do lists twitched under my eyelids like little electrical impulses and my preteens took advantage by binging on hot cocoa with marshmallows in the next room. They really think I don’t know?) And when I came back to my desk, that’s when I saw it.
CLUTTER.
Ugh. It was on my desk, in my folders, on my computer, covering my printer, and worst of all, in my head. Bills to pay, parents to call, report cards to complete, assignments to write, poems to revise, cover letters to perfect. Two phones, three pairs of scissors, four catalogs, a paper puncher, two magazines, 18 pages of printed research, a half-finished scholarship application, a recipe for peanut butter cup dip (mmm), countless scraps of scribbled notes, dead pens, working pens, highlighters, an empty coffee mug, expired coupons, and even a scrap of Christmas wrapping paper!
Whoa…I am getting behind. And, okay. I can’t do it all tonight. Defeat accepted. But I can de-clutter my desk, which I did. Under the rubble I rediscovered a little pewter turtle–a gift from my husband who knows me and my clutter cycles all too well. On the little turtle’s back is one word under a glimmering glass shell: Simplify.
Ah. There it is. Okay. I get it.
Love my desk again, now that I can see it. Maybe soon, I will love my writing again, once I am able to clear some of my brain clutter and see it with fresh eyes.
I vow to get my life back soon. Very soon. It will happen at a turtle’s pace, but it will happen. I will attack the to-do lists and make the clutter go away. I. Will. Win.
My acrostic puts it all in black and white, so there’s no going back now, even if I wanted to:
C reative juices
L anguish, the
U nderling of
T o-do lists. And I,
T he task-master, say
E NOUGH!
R eclaim the desk!
Anyone else de-cluttering this week? Are you wringing out whatever it is that is soaking up your creative juices? I invite you to share your own clutter-themed poem here. Let’s have a de-cluttering party!!!
And don’t forget to check out this week’s Poetry Friday round-up with Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect.
Liana,
Sometimes need to declutter my mind. My mom visited, then we had snow days, and a case of flu. Everything I wrote was covered in rust. I needed everyone to back off a foot to give me the mental space to write. I’m glad you de-cluttered your desk. I hope it helped. I’m sure the creative juices will flow again!
Thanks, Liz. It definitely did help, though not immediately. The mental clutter just suffocates my creativity, but I’m really trying to get on top of it. We’ve had crazy snow weather here, too, with tons of snow days, early dismissals, and delays. It does throw everyone’s routines and cycles off, plus it gives you that shut-in feeling. I’m sure that contributes to mental and emotional clutter. Anyway, I AM getting those creative juices flowing again. WHEWWWW!!!!
I did this a few weeks ago, and it has made all the difference. Although…small signs of clutter are beginning to appear around the edges. I’ll take your advice and stay on top of it!
Good for you, Mary Lee! It really helped me, too.
Oh, Liana! I’m right there with you — if my physical space is cluttered, my mental space is too. I usually come home from work on Fridays and start tidying so I can make space for the weekend! I’m a big fan of Joshua Becker’s blog and books on decluttering/simplifying, but I don’t have a poem about the process . . . yet. The turtle says: Slow and steady wins the race! Good luck!
Hi, Liana–
Hm. The way it goes for me is, I can have a tidy house or a tidy classroom but not both. Right now, I have a tidy house and I even decluttered my nominal desk (which, after I bought it to furnish a new room in a new house, turned out to be utterly impracticably small), but I’m not sure it has much effect on my writing. In fact, here’s a poem on the topic from a couple of years ago…
This one’s short—
the briefest snort
to show contempt
for a house that’s kempt.
Who needs the table
honey-free
or a kitchen floor
clear of debris?
Why take the time
to tidy up
when writing’s
what buoys
Heidi up?
Great post, and I do like your simple little turtle…
So true, Heidi! I love your poem, and your logical thinking at the end of it. For me, the physical clutter is usually a sign of mental clutter, and when my head gets like that, I’m almost unintelligible. But I’m very happy to say that de-cluttering the desk really helped. I wrote something I actually liked today. My brain fog seems to be lifting a bit.
Sounds like we live similar clutter-filled lives. I, too, struggle to stay on top of the piles. Last week, I ended up skipping out on a lot of PF reading because of it… so I guess you were sympathizing with me and I didn’t even know it!
Hmmm… not sure what happened the first time I tried to submit a comment here. It sounds like we lead similar clutter-filled lives, Liana– I spend a lot of time just mentally trying to stay above it all. That’s one of the reasons I stayed away from reading PF poems last week, but it’s nice to know you were empathizing with me even if I didn’t know it at the time!
Glad to know I’m in good company, Michelle! Still working on the clutter, but definitely feeling better now that I’ve taken it on. When my space is clear, so are my thoughts.