8 Minute Memoir, Day 10: Messes

In thinking about the topic for this particular 8 Minute Memoir, "Messes," I actually had a few different ideas.  I could write about the messiness of our current political situation here in the US, or I could write about how my 2016 Chicago Marathon training kind of turned into a huge mess (that I am still picking up, slowly but surely!)... but frankly, those are both kind of a bummer to me and I try to stay positive as much as I can, haha.  Then it hit me--I can write about my drawers!

I have this set of small plastic drawers that sits on top of my dresser.  Basically, these drawers hold all the things I would keep in a desk, if I had room for one, that is.  I have not had a desk since we lived in DeKalb mainly because we just don't have space (especially in this apartment, as much as I love it, there is just no room for extra furniture or things--but that is a post for another time).  Anyway, I probably clean these drawers out once a year... and it had been about a year since I last went through them.  This last Friday seemed like the perfect day.

Over the last 12 months--the last time would have been in January 2016, only a few weeks after our apartment got broken into.  I feel like I did a better job of not letting it get too crazy, but there was definitely a pretty big pile of stuff to throw away.  I've always had tendencies towards keeping, well, everything, and I am proud that in my adulthood I have let go of a little of this and don't feel the need to hold onto every ticket or receipt or student loan statement.  It probably took me about an hour to clean it out, to sort out the drawers, to organize and then to put everything away.  As someone who writes, who has always been into journals and pens and pretty paper, I have a lot of that stuff on top of everything else.

Just to give you an idea, here are a few examples of what you might find if you took a peek:

[Top Drawer:] notepads, stationery cards, scissors, tape, a glue stick, twine, tiny red clothespins

[Middle Drawer:] keepsakes including photographs of me with my grandpa and my grandma right after I was born, the veil I wore on our wedding day, two pairs of glasses and a pair of sunglasses

[Bottom Drawer:] a collection of Trader Joe's cards that I have somehow amassed, the small Moleskine I write my biweekly budget in, a cache of Burt's Bees lip balm, a bunch of multi-colored markers and pens, more pens than I could ever possibly need (as per usual)