Do You Ever Just Need To...

[queenoftheskies]

Clear your mind?

Does it ever feel so cluttered that there are things you can't find? Things you know are there or that used to be there, but you can't find them any more because there's so much junk?

Sometimes, my mind feels cluttered and then it just clears and I can find whatever I want, and I think, "Wow, that was easy."

Then, other times, I feel like I'm wading through crap in my grandmother's attic, like I used to do when I was a child. While there were wonderful feather mattresses, and fruit put away to dry in the sun that came through under the eaves, and trunks filled with old clothes and jewely, old furniture, old books with titles that fascinated me...there was also dust and dirt and moths and lots and lots of cobwebs.

I had to wade through everything else to get to the long dresses and glittering combs to play make believe and create my own wonderful worlds, until my grandparents decided I'd been upstairs long enough and needed to be herded outside. (Which also held wonders all its own, but not the clutter that the attic held.)

Then there was the basement. Cold (no matter what time of year), dark (even when the single light bulb was on), filled with jar after jar of homemade jam and pickles and relish, canned tomatoes, anything my grandfather grew in his garden that my grandmother could turn into jellies or jams or can. It wasn't cluttered. You could find whatever you wanted there. And, yet, even though it held dark mysteries and I always wondered what was behind the stairs (my grandparents wouldn't let me go down there alone), it didn't hold the magic and wonder that the cluttered attic did.

So, I guess the trick is finding out what causes the clutter? And, either dealing with that or finding a way through it to the gems and jewels, the memories, the story ideas, the focus that's necessary for all aspects of life?

The clutter causes me stress and yet...I think it's stress that causes the clutter. Too many day-to-day worries that bounce around my brain, knocking other things out of the way. Sometimes, they can be dealt with outright. Sometimes, they're on a time frame designed to make me wait. Sometimes, I have to have patience and let the outcome be dealt with by outside forces.

But, the clutter distracts me and I need to at least make a path through it, so I have free access to what's inside and so what's inside has free access to fly free whenever it feels inclined to do so.

Hmm...maybe I should have a garage sale?

Comments

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

Well, what tends to happen during a garage sale is that all the things you thought, "Well, maybe I can live without this, but it's still nice/functional/I have 2 of them" get bought quickly, and you are left at the end of the day with the dregs of your dregs.

It's fun!

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

This is true. :)

[everyonesakitty.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you mean!!! Many times, the clutter keeps me from being able to write. I have to clear my mind of any external worries (which is very difficult, and which is why I can't seem to write much directly after work).

The brain is trixy. :)

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's it. The outside things that accumulate inside our minds. That's what causes all the trouble. :)

[replicantpris.livejournal.com]

heh. i know this is going to sound awful... but if you're having a garage sale of your mind, i'll pay...

~Frenzy ;

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

:)

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

I think it's that reorganizing that's the key. It takes some calm and mental peace to be able to do it.

Hmm...could happen one day, I suppose. :)

[navicat.livejournal.com]

What a lovely post to read!

And as someone who can never throw anything away...don't garage sale! Everything COULD be useful some time down the line ;)

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :)

I just wish I could clear stuff off to the sides so the important stuff could shine through, you know?

[navicat.livejournal.com]

Ok, then you need to buy boxes and labels. When I can't bare to throw something out, even if I should, I put it in a box and label it. That way I'll find it if I ever need too (which is inevitably never!) :D

[java-fiend.livejournal.com]

Definitely don't sell those things off, Miss J. Get a storage unit, pack things up and put them in there. That way, they're out of the way but you can still go visit them whenever you wish.

I hear you about the cluttered mind, but our memories are precious, like the one you shared with us. They're a part of us and we should remember them, treasure and cherish them. Even the bad ones. Because all of those things coalesced to make us who we are. The good, the bad and the ugly. It's all us.

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

I'm not advocating getting rid of the memories. I just need to shove the dust aside sometimes to get at the important stuff. :)