During the first week of spring, the temperature dipped into the twenties, the daffodils lay prostrate on the walk, and I devoted an entire day to cleaning out my files.
I usually purge them in January to get a fresh start on the year, but I had failed to do so, not only this past January, but also in January of 2011.
So it was time—past time. Too much paper never sorts itself out. The trivial and the important were jammed together, both in the cabinet and in my head.
I soon realized that my neglect to use organization as a strategic planning tool (see Wildly Organized) was symbolic of an ambivalence about where I am in my professional life.
I’d been dragging my feet on cleaning out my files because I knew it would force me to deal with endings and face up to the disconnect between where I say I want to put my time and energy and where I actually do.
I love my work and am grateful for having achieved a level of mastery in it. It is both a creative outlet and source of identity. It provides me with the opportunity to contribute to the professional growth of talented, caring people whose trust I cherish and whose company I enjoy.
Yet I have other goals—writing, being a mother and a grandmother, becoming a citizen of the world—which I can’t devote as much time to as I would like, given that I am now over the crest of 65.
I’d been dragging my feet on cleaning out my files because I knew it would force me to deal with endings and face up to the disconnect between where I say I want to put my time and energy and where I actually do.
I had to take the time to do an audit of what was in those overstuffed folders, and in my conflicted thinking, as well, so that I would have the hard data necessary to make wise choices.
I’m tempted to say that the practice of intentional selectivity is a gift of age, but as I think about it, it seems to me that the rapid pace of our culture makes it an essential practice at any age.
It comes into play just as much for the young working mother, who feels as if she’s constantly running uphill, alternating between having it all together and falling into a heap, as it does for a working grandmother.
Like a bulging file cabinet, an overstuffed life has practical consequences. We get frustrated because we can’t find what is most important to us in any particular moment, or worse, we lose it! The sheer volume obscures our priorities.
The first step when there’s no space left is to stop adding to the pile, which puts you in a holding pattern—where I was before I finally committed to sorting through it all.
But eventually, if you’re going to move forward, you’ll need to begin taking away the things that deplete you so that you can put back more of what enriches you.
I could see that my real work would be not just sorting through piles of paper, but deciding what to retain and what to release, based on what I see as my life’s purpose. I had to bring my records up-to-date with what is most meaningful to me right now.
I already knew what that was. Next to my computer is a photograph of a milkweed pod caught in the moment of bursting open to disperse its seeds. The picture perfectly symbolizes who I want to be in this phase of my professional and personal life, and the work ahead for me is simply to organize my day-to-day living around this guiding principle.
At the end of my organizing day there were two large cardboard boxes of mixed paper for the recycle bin. The files hung loosely in the cabinet with enough room between them for easy access to their contents, and the drawers opened and closed smoothly.
Next to the seed photo, I placed a short list of follow up actions to complete my process.
If someone had taken before and after pictures of my office, it would have appeared as if little had changed. But a great deal happened inside me as a result.
Now, when I enter my office I feel open, ready and even excited about what will come next in my life because I’ve made space for it.
Beautifully said.
How can we allow what truly brings us joy into our lives if our life is so jam packed with other meaningless clutter!
For some of us it takes a lot of work to let joy in…Bev
I LOVE this! The same is true for how you earn and spend your money. If it doesn’t energize and expand or deepen what is most cherished – let it go!
@Patricia Aine Dee, Thank you for extending the thought to include our attitudes toward money and for being a regular reader. Bev
Bev, I’m always happy to see the email that brings your newsletter. But, today’s article was over the top for me. I connected in every way to its obvious and profoundly deeper meaning for me. I guess I wonder what will be there when I finally let go of the clutter. Thanks so much for your honest sharing and inspiration. Shredder here I come!
@Julie Bernardin, Trust the “white” space. When you look at a printed page (which people also clutter, particularly when writing a resume!) it is the white space which bring you eye to the words that are important. Bev
Bev, I always enjoy your newsletters but this one in uncanny in it is EXACTLY what I am thinking and would have liked to write as an explanation. Thank you! IN fact I shared it on my Facebook wall so hopefully others will enjoy it as much as I do. I am currently in a “cleaning” mode of my life as I transition into a new professional chapter. These words, as with your book, which I bought and read last month, are so perfect. Thank you!
.
@debbie hagen, Meeting someone where they are on their journey …in a helpful way…makes all the effort to write worthwhile. Thank you, Bev
Hi Bev. Always love your newsletter. Spring is the perfect time to rebirth. I could see you with piles of paper all around you. Last year was my moment of truth – purging my life of what wasn’t essential so I could move forward. After the physical purging, I sat down to write out my goals and dreams for the next 10 years of my life (turning 65 myself this fall). Now, in addition to my Career Counseling, I am a certified Hospice volunteer working in a beautiful hospice house in Florida during the winter and continuing my counseling in NH in the summer.
There is something wonderful about letting go – to move forward without the chains and weight of life holding us down and back. We are blessed you are able to not only see what needs to be done, but be able to write about it so creatively…
@Sue Henry, Thank you for supplying a concrete example of how a physical purging opened the way for a new, meaningful direction. A dear friend and teacher who is 85 just wrote “I look forward to the future” at the end of her newsletter. Now there’s a mantra to live by for all of us! Bev
Beautiful – timely – true. Thank you!
@Monica Maye, and hard work! Bev
This one really spoke to me, Bev. Have been doing some cleaning out myself over the past 2 months: the letting go, the closure, the clarity. It’s all there in the details of our day to day life. LIke cleaning files. Thanks.
@Janice Kinder, These details, when we don’t get bogged down in them, however, bring peace, not devils. Bev
Being a dutiful 50’s wife, I followed my grasses-greener husband until our divorce – never did Spring Cleaning, simply moved – however, it did prepare me for my current volunteer lifestyle. I am now, and have been for years, organized, periodically recycling, downsizing, reusing. Cleaning and organizing gives you a feeling of contented control; knowing where everything is, at least in my “corner of the world”. Thanks for your words.
@Barbara M Traynor, So many of us, for a variety of circumstances, simply move…I love that concept and the idea that contended (vs. driven) control is possible. Thank you for expanding my thinking so articulately. Bev
Bev; How do you do it? Each newsletter is just the shot in the arm that I need…at that moment. Over the weekend I’ve cleaned out my file cabinet and next plan to work on the many piles that are clutteering my life. I recently cleaned off my desk-so I could stop feeling so BLOCKED in working on my new career planning. Your article reminded me that I need to take the clean up , even deeper. Thank you for your endless inspiration!
@Sarah, And thank you for sharing how much work it is to keep getting ourselves unblocked by the stuff on our desks and in our heads. Bev
Bev, judging by the feedback, you hit a nail on the head with this newsletter. I too am shifting priorities. At 63, I know that I’d better get doing that which is now meaningful and leave behind both a bit of my professional identity and personal and professional activities that no longer have meaning.
@Carol Christen, In addition to the comments on line, many people wrote me personal notes, which tells be I am not alone in seeking to arrange my life around a few core priorities and to slow down the pace! Look for more on similar topics in future newsletters. Bev
Thanks Bev for a much needed reminder of why I need to get going on my “spring cleaning”….at work and at home…to be more free emotionally/physically/spiritually. I will be sharing this on my Facebook page, so that your words might be able to help even more people. You are the best! 🙂
@Barbara Gleason, I wish I had understood the real importance of cleaning when I was raising a family. I marvel at how you (and other young, working mothers) handle it all with such insight and generosity. Bev
How relevant for all of us. I have an office closet that constantly reminds
me that I have decisions to make and endings to deal with that will need to
be dealt with at some point. This is the year of streamlining for me. At the
same time I keep a list of the things most important to me as a reminder for
when I am making decisions and considering new things to add to my already full life. I’ve even created a list called ‘Not Now’ so that I don’t lose
track of the things I might want to add back when there is more (or a
better) time.
As always, I love your artciles/blogs. Keep writing!
@Terri Mead, I love the way a “not now” list honors both future possibilities and the real limitations of real time. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and actions! Bev
Wow – this was piece was perfectly timed. It’s not just about the filing cabinets, though, is it?
I think you answered your own questions! Bev