Here I sit in my computer room, one of the smaller rooms in my house. However, I haven't let that get in the way of my stuffing it to capacity with furniture, the computer and pounds upon pounds of binders, paper, liberated office supplies, guitars, teddy bears, dog toys and storage containers. It's the little 10 x 10 room that could!

I've always been a packrat. At least I come by it honestly; my Mom probably taught me everything I know. One particularly vivid memory I recall is having to do a Science Fair project in Grade Six, and needing to find many pictures to illustrate my theme. Mom rustled around under the stairs in the basement and came up with an ancient pile of magazines. To me, it was the motherlode! What a great idea! So, I started squirreling away my possessions in shoe boxes, under my bed, in the top of my closet, anywhere I could find a little storage. I'm sure I have some McDonald's treats of the week from 1983, still in their packages, that are probably worth something. Now, my Choir and Library badges from Grade One, not so much.

To me, clutter isn't a nice word. To be surrounded by items that make up the person you are is nice. It's comforting to look at your cork board in the middle of a horrible week and see a picture of the dog you had when you were a kid. The only problem with saving stuff is the fact that the stuff just keeps on coming, leaving me with less and less space. I suppose a bigger house might be the answer, but that's just the kind of flawed logic that spurred me on to buying that huge Danier purse in 2000, the one that got so full I began to list to the left.

Yesterday I was in Chapters, ordering the dvd of John Mayer's Any Given Thursday, and to pick up my next few books. As I stood in the checkout line trying to avoid staring at the mother berating her child in public, my eye wandered to the display of lovely metal bookmarks. Out of that entire wall of items competing for my attention, the one that I immediately went to fairly screamed, "Simplify!"

And I thought, "Damn."

It's quite possible that all the stuff I've been hanging on to in an effort to insulate myself is exactly the thing that's holding me back from taking charge of my future. I need to lighten up, both literally and figuratively.

Whoa. Deep.

Posted at 9:20 a.m.