I just found the best quote about New Year’s Resolutions. The quote is Mark Twain’s, and he says, “Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual New Year’s resolutions. Next week, we can begin paving hell with them as usual.”
I’m not a great one for making resolutions. Well, that’s not quite true. I’m not a great one for following through on resolutions. As is, apparently, Mark Twain. But, I often get a few things done at the beginning of the year. Some I plan. Some I just stumble upon.
A few days ago, I needed to write some thank you notes, and I was pretty sure I had some note cards in the space in my desk where I keep those sorts of things. Or, to be more accurate, there’s a space in the desk were I stash stuff that I buy, receive as gifts, or come across, that I think might make good stationery. And, yes, I do know the difference between stationery (things you write letters and notes on) and stationary (things that are standing still).
I opened the cute little pressed glass door, and immediately recognized the error of my ways and regretted, very much, my bad organizational habits regarding the stationery storage area. For example, last month, I had two “buy two, get one free” Hallmark greeting card coupons, redeemable at Wal-Mart. I had a nice time, choosing cute birthday cards for Peter for the next six years. They were shoved in there at the side. A conglomeration of cards for birthdays, graduation, tough times, Easter, and Valentines was packed higgledy-piggledy in a white bin. Other stuff was crammed into the nooks and crannies at the top and sides. And it’s just not that big a space!
So I removed everything and took it to my office space and put it on the floor, where it expanded and became far less attractive, much like those videos of Peeps in a microwave. Just not as sticky.
Because I know how much I enjoy seeing people’s photos in their blogs, I assume that you, too, like photos, so I take pictures of everything these days, in case I want them for blogs. I cannot believe that I didn’t think about that before I started all this. You’ll just have to take my word for what a tightly packed mess it was.
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- Here is a picture of the desk. The little cabinet at the top left is where the stationery belongs. It’s empty here.
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- And here it is, all empty on the inside. I really did take *everything* out.
There were envelopes with nothing that fit in them. There were cards and notes and sheets of decorative paper that had no corresponding envelopes. There were things I have NO MEMORY AT ALL of purchasing, receiving, and/or wanting. And, apparently, every time I went on a trip and bought postcards to send to friends/family members/kids in my Sunday School classes, I also bought a couple of extras, just in case. And now, instead of Christmas cards, I could send out random picture post cards of every place I’ve ever visited.
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- cards sitting on my keyboard, waiting to be sorted into the “keep” or “toss” pile
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- Trying to match the orphan cards with envelopes that might hold them.
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- Things I’m keeping, along with the nicely organized bin with labeled dividers.
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- things that are going to Goodwill
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- the postcards
Cleaning out a little 13 x 13 x 8 3/4 inch space isn’t all that difficult. But, it’s a really good start, don’t you think.
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- Here’s how it looks now.
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- with the door closed
Peter’s half-dozen birthday cards are on the left. And while you can see, when the door’s closed, that there’s something in the cabinet, it’s not like it used to be, where cards and envelopes were pressed against the glass, like prisoners, hoping desperately to be noticed and set free.
You lazy fool, look at an ant.
Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.
Nobody has to tell it what to do.
All summer it stores up food;
at harvest it stockpiles provisions.
So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing?
How long before you get out of bed?
A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there,
sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?
Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life,
poverty your permanent houseguest!
Proverbs 6:6-11 (The Message)
I don’t have a big list of New Year’s resolutions. But my goal is to take care of things as I find them. Which means, among other things, that I have to stay away from the wardrobe in the guest room. It has fabric scraps in it.