Monday, May 06, 2013

Horizontal surfaces, it is said, have an innate tendency to fill to their capacity with stuff.  Sometimes the stuff is necessary or important stuff, and sometimes it is disposable clutter.  Over time and without nearly constant attention, the disposable clutter will fill up all available space and important things will be displaced.  Not to mention that the clean horizontal will have ceased to exist except as a potential.  We have, at times, tried to design the elements of a room to minimize horizontal surfaces and attempt to eliminate the metastasizing clutter monster that grows larger and more dominant when horizontal surfaces are present.  That has been relatively successful, understanding of course that the floor is a horizontal surface it is difficult to do without.  It seems that the rapidity with which a surface can be overcome is amazing.  Our kitchen has a central island with counters surrounding.  The high surrounding counter can be cleaned in the morning and be seriously cluttering by evening.  The surfaces that are on display do at least get more closely monitored than those hidden in a closet or a bedroom.  My closet has a shelf that I have dedicated to the temporary  holding of the contents of my pockets as they are emptied at the end of a wear cycle.  Pocket change used to be a serious contaminant, but I have reduced it’s presence dramatically by stationing a wooden box with a lid on the shelf.  Now I put the change into the box which subdivides the clutter nicely, but is clutter itself.  Because the shelf is hidden from the general view, I have found little impetus to clean it, but occasionally the clutter begins to fall off the edge and I am driven to clear it off.  My favorite method for accomplishing this is to slip the edge of a box under the shelf front and slide everything from the shelf into the box.  Then, the hard part is……find the permanent home for everything in the box instead of allowing the box to reside somewhere else.  I find this isn’t necessary more than annually, and this morning it was time.  I found…pencils, pens, thumb tacks, change, paper clips, Sharpie markers, bells, receipts, notes with phone numbers, usb cables, an arab headdress, screws, nails, a wire cutter, batteries, buttons, shoe strings, reading glasses, glasses parts, soapstone, fingernail clippers, chapstick, pocket knives,razor blades, leathermen, phone cases, straight pins, clothing tags, marbles, yo-yos, rubber bands, an instructional CD, keys, wallet, and probably a few more things.  Most of the things did find a permanent home.  For some, the trash can was the final resting place.  Having once again set my shelf to rights, I too feel clean.  It is cathartic.  It is also emblematic of the inner clutter we accumulate that we too seldom take the time to identify and remove.  That cathartic feeling can bring a peace we all seek, whether we know it or not, and comes through the repentance process, forgiving others and by being forgiven as we admit our faults to ourselves and our Creator.