The article that was almost complete just disappeared into the ether as the computer died again. It is, apparently, not even available as a recovered document. Perhaps it was the wrong time to write it. I dismiss it… let it go. I had, for once, struggled with it… not because of the content, but simply because today I feel about ready for a break. There is, of course, a lot on the table with things to prepare for the April workshop in Derbyshire and the Glastonbury talk the week before, as well as the usual everyday tasks.

These, I admit, seldom include much in the way of housework these days… not for me anyway. My son’s home, yes, and clearing up after the canine hooligan currently out chasing pigeons in the garden… but my personal domestic needs are few and simple. They would be simpler still if I could afford a skip (dumpster in the US, I believe). I suppose it is the spring cleaner urge… but it will have to wait.

I own very little, and my domestic  arrangements have simplified beautifully over the past couple of years since everyone left home. With the last of them gone, I rolled up my sleeves and began to reclaim the space and light that had been my overstuffed home. I have spread out. Expanded… and I enjoyed the process. Surplus furniture was disposed of, cupboards cleared and things managed to find homes where they had been stuck in dark corners as the boys grew. The charity shops and the recycling yard did well out of the affair. When I had done, covered in paint and very pleased with myself, I sat back with a relieved smile and began to live in the spacious ‘new’ home.

Except, over the past year, I have noticed that my home is still overstuffed with … well, stuff.

You don’t live a lifetime without acquiring it. I have the things my children have left stuffed in the attic, boxes of photographs that really should be in albums or scanned, the memories you just keep… those things are fair enough. As are the books… we’ll leave them out of the equation. But there is an accumulation of stuff that will ‘come in handy’ that never does, the things you really can’t throw or give away that sit somewhere in between … and you know the drill. It is just that stuff that gets put to one side and gathers dust… until you open the cupboard and it all falls out…. So I am feeling the urge to get drastic again. It might even involve paint eventually.

I could just ignore it. That is the easiest thing to do, of course, but think how good it will feel to open cupboards and see space!

It is a bit like that with all the stuff we let clutter our minds and emotions though. Things we have stored away that lurk under the surface, until something happens and it all spills out, showing us how many things we have bottled up, sat on or otherwise ignored through our lives. Then, of course, we can just cram the lot back in and hold the door shut… or we can roll our sleeves up and sort through it  and regain some space.

As the sunlight streams in and highlights the winter dinginess that seems to settle through the dark times, there is a lot to be said for the urge to spring clean.

Just… not tonight!