DAY 18 - CREATIVE MINDS ARE RARELY TIDY

Over the past few years, in Annual Performance Reviews, one item has come up over and over:  Desk is Clean and Tidy, Score 1 (out of 5). It’s always been my weakness – even as a kid. So, once a year, just before Performance Reviews, I would clean up my desk – at least a little bit.

My father, Dale Evans Roe, at work at
American Red Cross, Oakland, about 1972.

   And, it’s definitely an inherited trait. My dad’s desks – at both home and work – were always a mess. Mom was patient as his desk clutter slowly overtook half of the Kitchen Table too. I think it’s because Dad always had so many things going on, too many projects – and he wanted to keep an eye on them all. Yup, I definitely inherited that from him.

   I’m a “Collector” – not quite to the levels of Hoarding, but I do have a few weaknesses. In fact, I love to watch the Hoarding shows on Netflix – they always make me feel better about my housekeeping skills. I collect books and information, a bit to excess. Today when I counted, all 14 bookcases in my house were filled – and there were books that didn’t even fit onto the shelves. It was time to do something.

   So that was today’s task: Organize my Den. I sorted papers, shredded stacks of documents, organized office supplies, and cleared out the books that I decided I can live without. I filed old tax returns, divorce papers, annulment papers. I ran across the Wedding Cards from a few months ago, and tucked them away for a time when I’m not feeling quite so fragile. And as I added recent Journal entries to the shelf, I ran across cards and notes and letters to and from the men in my life – which will stay a part of my journal, because all of those things have made me who I am today. At the end of the day I had 2 big black bags of shredding, another big bag of trash, 4 boxes of books to sell, and a nice pile of extra office supplies to give away.

Dad's Antique Desk. A rare glimpse of the desktop.

   It’s nice to have a Clean Desk – at least for now. I don’t expect it to stay that way, because I have a few projects that I want to work on – and they require spreading out. Maybe a few too many projects, but they’re too intriguing to put off any longer.

   And as the piles creep back up, and book magically appear and overfill the shelves, and notebooks fill with thoughts and ideas – well, my desk will look my like my dad’s. And that’s OK, because it is Dad’s desk. I inherited a beautiful old antique desk that once belonged to my father, so it’s fitting if my desk habits look much like his as well. If I’m blessed to have any ideas similar to his, or a heart as big as his, or a writing talent as fabulous as his – I will count myself lucky. Dad was a creative soul that was rarely tidy, and I guess so am I.

You say I'm messy. I say my things are arranged in 
an abstract manner intentionally as part of 
my unquenchable thirst for creative expression.