Cleaning goes in fits and starts in my life. Physically and metaphorically. Often the two are inextricably mixed. I've had a bunch of boxes from my move 2.5 years ago that have never been unpacked. Hmm, if I didn't need what was in them by now, what does that say about their contents?
To be fair, a few are filled with memorabilia. And that isn't stuff that just sits out. Since I have almost zero extended family, my box or two of baby photos and stuff my parents saved from school days are about the only connection I have to the past. So those stay.
As for the other ones? How many unmarked cds can one person have? And scientific journal papers from the 80's. Well, that did used to be my life. And i've held on to them "just in case." Of what? Invasion by aliens who will only free us if I can tell them the sequence of R61 carboxypeptidase? Out they go.
Of course you also run across the random receipt that triggers some memory. And photos. And cards and letters. Not everything in my life is digital, and I'm finding that I'm embracing the analog more every moment. I can't go back, but I can't stay here either. Sometimes you go in circles, but that's ok if it is more of a spiral. Outward spiral I hope, but sometimes in the middle of the swirl it is hard to tell.
Right now the live version of "Dim" by dada is playing. Geez, has that song had an impact on me over the years. Is it time to clean that as well? Only if it allows something beautiful to grow in its place. While eating one night with Bob and Dylan, I commented at how artistic the dinner was. Dylan replied, "everything in life can be beautiful."
I can't really follow that line at the moment, so I'll pause. And clean some more.
