Continued Confessions
with a nod to religion
I was not raised with any formal religion, and quite frankly I am appalled at some of the things that have occurred in our world in the name of the various faiths. However, with my Substack I have now discovered the benefit of occasionally confessing some quirks and behaviors which seem to improve with a deeper examination. I started this Thursday posting with the confession that I am a hoarder, so now every time I have what I am calling a “slip” I feel it important to share with my friends. This disease from which I suffer causes me to attach importance to many objects that others would consider useless. But lately, and especially during the isolation of the pandemic, I have become even more cluttered with stuff that really is worthless. But now I am getting concerned that something of real value may have become lost in the hoard. Thank goodness I still have my gentleman caller so I keep the pathways open. But I was in awe of my friend Carol’s surroundings, which can only be described as spotless. In fact, she is an accomplished artist and her walls are very beautifully arranged. But she tends to discard even things she may later need, so perhaps between the two of us we can arrive at the proper amount of trashing or keeping. I have suggested she come visit me to help restore some order, but she has declined unless I agree to be bound and gagged while she has her way with my stuff! You know that’s not going to happen. And I still keep my pride in being able to function with my self-employment tasks as well as doing my own taxes and managing my increasing medical issues online. I must admit that sometimes the computer gets the best of me, but somehow I figure out a workaround while the eyesight holds out enough to do so.
But back to how I run my life in general. Going with the flow or listening to my gut has informed most of my life so jumping in the car and heading to Carol’s the other day definitely was impulsive but not unusual for me. I am so glad I made that trip, and I also figured out something important. Carol has a cat named Dwight and it was definitely fun to be around him while I was there. As you know, I had to finally bid farewell to Lucky Ting recently, and I have told friends that I am now free to travel. But I started to think that another pet might be comforting again. Strangely enough, last night I had a very vivid dream of having a new cat in the picture. It was a large grey, rather fluffy cat, and we were having a great time in my dream. But when I awoke my immediate response was to be glad that it was not real. Obviously, pets can tie you down almost as much as babies. So that was my universe reminding me that I do enjoy traveling occasionally, and I still have friends that I want to see again soon. So please remind me that it’s all I can do to take care of myself at this point. No pets allowed!
And you know that I can’t stop typing until I make some remarks on the Manhattan court case for falsifying business records. I do a lot of research for my clients in the judicial records here in Connecticut, but I have previously been a Title Searcher in New York State. And I love digging into the tangled webs that some people weave to obfuscate. There’s usually a thread that can be pulled to reveal more, but it definitely takes a lot of time and know-how to stay ahead of those who do this with criminal intent. And that’s all I’ll say for now.
Talk to you again on Sunday.
Here's the challenge: "the proper amount of trashing or keeping." What's proper for one may be improper for another. I do not want to count how many times we have downsized to what we thought was minimal and proper only to accumulate more over the ensuing years. And here we are again in the midst of a move that started last June and will be completed this June. This time a big move, selling a house and a lot of stuff in it, giving a bunch away and keeping some, and moving to Mexico. I have a sense we should jettison even more. There's a post here on Substack from Leyla Kazim "in pursuit of less" which speaks to the issues many of us deal with off and on, time and time again. As we go through yet another sorting, tossing and keeping exercise I am about to conclude we could have gotten rid of even more if we really put our minds to it and established some kind of goal. What if I imposed a percentage limit on what I was allowed to keep? What would have the most value and why? Now all I need is the discipline to do that. I know how less is more.
https://garygruber.com/less-is-more/
Katharine, are you into dream interpretation? The Jungians would like your dream about adopting another cat! As for hoarding, that never-ending onus, I have an "office" where I try to contain it, and throw stuff, not to be thought of until a few weeks later when I muster the courage to tackle it and immerse myself for hours, then emerge dizzy but cleansed and feeling accomplished and victorious until defeated in the next battle. I am afraid there is no solution as long as there are enticing newspapers, books, unopened mail, still potentially useful but malfunctioning appliances, and old photographs to scan. This weekend there is allegedly a garage to tackle.