Do you think I have enough pencils and pens?
Usually these containers are stowed in strategic places throughout the house. I have them by my bed, in several parts of my office, by the sofa, in the kitchen, and at my favorite chair. You never know when you might need to write something down, and those pens need to be handy.
Sure, they are all in cute containers so that I can tell myself I’m not messy. It doesn’t look like many if you see just one container. Bring them all together, and you can see I have a mess!
This is nothing. This might be half of the pens and pencils I have collected. I have bundles of writing utensils stashed in drawers (just in case I run out). Pens are scattered on counter tops, because I can’t jam any more in the containers. I have so many pens that they are in the bottom of my purse, on the floorboard of my car, and even under my desk (the cats think they are toys). Use it
up,
wear it
out, make it
do or
do without.
Chances are good that if I need a pen, the first three I pull out of any container won’t even write. Some of the pencils are so old that the erasers are as hard as a rock.
“Why do you keep so many pens?” you ask.
Because I live in chaos!
Seriously why? Because I would feel guilty if I threw them away. It’s wasteful! I grew up with the Depression era mentality. “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without” is a mantra deeply ingrained in my psyche. I just know that if I start throwing away pens, I’ll suddenly need one and not have any.
I don’t think I’ll run out of writing utensils until Doomsday!
Today, I’m sorting them. You might think it’s silly to waste time on something so trivial, but little bits of clutter add up. Pens that don’t write and pencils that are nubs or that have hard erasers are going in the trash. If it’s still a usable utensil, but doesn’t feel good in my arthritic hands, it goes in a discard pile. Then, I’ll keep five ten fifteen pens or pencils in each container.
But, I won’t throw away those ones that still work. They won’t sell in a garage sale…hmm…what to do with them?
I know! I’ll take them to the bank and to the post office to donate them. They never have a pen when I need one.
This journey began on a separate blog (you can click here to read About Out Of Chaos), but that wasn’t really simplifying was it? I moved all of the posts to This Eclectic Life under the category Out Of Chaos. I’ll be adding more from time to time. I hope you join me.
Other posts you might enjoy:
Comments on this entry are closed.