Recently I was involved in a small group discussion that, in part, involved the church--specifically, the Episcopal Church. One of the members of the group said that she felt we--the church--needed to get past the unimportant arguing and get on with the important work of feeding the hungry, etc.
This was not the first time I have heard this sentiment expressed, nor will it be the last. But this time I stopped the discussion. I said to the member who made the comment, and the whole group: Until my sisters and brothers are no longer being beaten, imprisoned, and killed, many in the same places where there are issues of hunger, health care, and poverty, the work of justice for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered people IS IMPORTANT WORK. As important as feeding the hungry, providing health care for everyone, and eradicating poverty.
The person who made the comment apologized immediately. In no way was their comment meant to imply that those things weren't happening and should be eradicated. It was simply that they felt the issues around sexuality were a not issue for them and most of their circles. They had moved on, and the church needed to move on, too.
The church, and society, do need to move on, but until they do, justice for those who are persecuted because of their sexuality is an issue we need to work on, do education about, and much more. I will no longer let comments about "doing the important work of the church" pass. Justice for my lbgtq sisters and brothers IS important work of the church.
Peace,
Jeffri
Showing posts with label Organizing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Organizing. Show all posts
Monday, September 8, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Unpacking Into A New Job
Two weeks ago, right after Easter, most of us in the Ministries with Young People Cluster had to pack up our offices. The actual packing week was last week, except that all but one of us was on the road for all or part of the week. Essentially, we had two days to pack, because Easter Monday was a holiday, and those of us in the new Evangelism and Congregational Life Center went on retreat Thursday and Friday. We packed in boxes rather than the plastic orange crates that were distributed during the "official" packing week.
Last Friday they shut down the computers and phones, and the actual move itself began. Over the weekend boxes and crates were moved out, offices painted, offices and cubicles cleaned, and new occupants' boxes and crates moved in. This is what awaited me when I walked to my new work area on the 5th Floor:
Since I started a new job today, only five boxes, my plant, and a file rack went to my new cubicle. Essentially, I'm almost back to the same physical location I started out in almost six years ago. This is the stack of boxes waiting for me in my new cubicle:
Last Friday they shut down the computers and phones, and the actual move itself began. Over the weekend boxes and crates were moved out, offices painted, offices and cubicles cleaned, and new occupants' boxes and crates moved in. This is what awaited me when I walked to my new work area on the 5th Floor:
Since I started a new job today, only five boxes, my plant, and a file rack went to my new cubicle. Essentially, I'm almost back to the same physical location I started out in almost six years ago. This is the stack of boxes waiting for me in my new cubicle:
You can see my colleague Angie in the cubicle to the left. She and I traveled to Vancouver together to attend the Start Up! Start Over! conference as part of our training for our new positions. She also had to pack in boxes instead of the orange crates.
Also waiting, connected and ready to go, were my phone (with a new extension) and my computer:
May God the Father
be the guardian of this place
and bring His peace.
May his love be shared,
and his will be found here,
and peace between all people.
May the Spirit bring lightness and laughter here.
May He be the strengthener and comforter
in times of difficulty.
May the Lord give peace
but never complacency.
Here may encouragement be found
and relationships strengthened.
Each day, every day,
each going out, and each returning,
the Lord bless you and keep you.
Peace between person and person;
peace between all who work here;
the peace of Christ above all peace;
peace between friends
each day and every day.
I pray for all who work here.
May the joy and peace of heaven
be with with you and around you.
The Lord bless you.
Christ, in our coming
and in our leaving,
be the Door and the Keeper
for us
and all who work within this place,
this day and every day,
ever and always.
Amen.
---Celtic Daily Prayer, pp. 151-152
This cubicle is "backwards" from my old one. I had to do some thinking about how I wanted to set it up. It will probably take some more tinkering as I settle in. So here's the same side of the cubicle where the boxes were:
You can see Angie settling in to her cubicle, and Monna, who used to sit next to me, is back by the windows. And here's the other side of my cubicle:
The corridor outside my office has fewer crates and boxes, but some major stacks still remain to be unpacked by folks who are on the road during the first part of this week. This morning I also moved the files for my old department from one side of the floor to the other. Tomorrow we have to pack up and move an "intern" cubicle that no one had time to deal with in the last two weeks. We'll also have to unpack the "vacant" office where they put all the contents of the former Ministries with Young People's director's office.
I still do not have a clear idea of what my new job entails. However, I have the opportunity participate in the creation of this new position. I've not had that kind of opportunity before, and I'm actually looking forward to the challenge, even if it is a bit frustrating at times.
In case you're wondering about the back left corner of my cubicle, I have a collection of crosses that I've picked up during my travels or that people have given me. Many of them hung on one wall of my old cubicle. As I looked my new space, this corner just sort of presented itself. It became more than just a display area for my collection. It is now my meditation/prayer corner. Along with the crosses are some prayer cards, pictures, and a bible and a Book of Common Prayer. This should help remind me to include prayer in my daily routine at the office.
Blessed are you, O God, ruler of the universe. Your gifts are many, and in wisdom you have made all things to give you glory. Be with us now and bless us as we dedicate our use of this space to your praise and honor. As often as we worship you here, precede us and abide with us. Be known to us in the Word spoken and heard, in fellowship with one another. Give us joy in all your works, and grant that this space may be a place where your will is done and your name glorified; through Jesus Christ our Savior, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.
---The Book of Occasional Services (2003), p. 245
Peace,
Jeffri
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
In The Path Of The Fires
Around 10:00 yesterday morning my friend Joe called me. It was a little early for him to be in his office, but his wife Trudy was on her way to a meeting in Seattle, and he had taken her to the airport even earlier. He wanted my boss' phone number for Trudy so she could get a hold of my boss if needed when they all arrived in Seattle. He also wanted my fax number so he could send me a "cut and paste" (literally, not in a word processor) document Trudy had been working on for us. Oh, and by the way, he and Trudy had to leave the house.
What is so startling about this simple statement was the context in which it was made, and Joe's saying it as if it was perfectly ordinary. Joe and Trudy live in San Marcos, just north of San Diego. I stayed with them for a long weekend after a meeting less than two weeks ago. Their neighborhood received evacuation orders early that morning. Joe told me that they'd woken up in the wee hours because they smelled smoke. They woke the neighbors next door, who have an infant child, and then proceeded to pack all their important papers, computer, clothing, and a few other things in the car before they left for the airport. The neighbors called Joe during the airport trip and said the mandatory evacuation notice had come, so he should not come home.
During lunch I looked at news reports online. Everyplace we had been during my visit was under fire watch, being evacuated, already evacuated, burning, or burned. I called Joe just before I left the office last evening. He was in the middle of packing a truck at the church where he and Trudy both work. Del Mar was threatened, and they were packing up the irreplaceable things. He told me he had a place to stay for the night, and he would call me later. This morning my boss called and passed along news from Trudy. They received notice that they could return home, but then another evacuation order went out. Joe had not even bothered to go home because the traffic was so bad.
It is very different watching and reading news of a disaster when people you know are involved--or places you have been. It makes it much more personal. On the train ride home last evening I found myself pondering my own preparedness for a disaster. What if I was given 30 minutes or less to get out of my home? What would I take? What do I consider important or irreplaceable? What could I realistically grab and load into my small car?
There are advantages to living in a small apartment. I do not have many places to stash things, so most of what I own is readily accessible. And with the recent purge, there is a lot less "stuff" to sort through if I had to leave. All of my important papers, files, and family records and pictures are in the three remaining plastic file drawers that sit by the back door of my apartment. My journals are in two archive boxes in the back closet--also close to the back door of my apartment. All of the clothes in my closet could be taken out to the car in two armloads, and those in my dresser could probably be stuffed in one or two of the small suitcases. My flute is usually out because I play it frequently. After that, it would be whatever else I had time to grab and fit in my car.
What I did realize is that I don't have a lot of my important information in one central place. Insurance policy numbers, group medical numbers, bank account numbers, emergency contact numbers, inventory of what is in my safe deposit box, etc. So today I stopped at a local Borders and bought a Moleskine Memo Pockets. I will be transcribing all that information onto index cards to go in the pockets, and it will stay with me.
Tomorrow I will try to call Joe and see what the latest news is. And I will probably again be amazed at his--and Trudy's--matter of fact, almost cheerful, demeanor in the face of the fires. In the meantime, I will pray for him and Trudy, and for all those in the path of the fires.
Peace,
Jeffri
What is so startling about this simple statement was the context in which it was made, and Joe's saying it as if it was perfectly ordinary. Joe and Trudy live in San Marcos, just north of San Diego. I stayed with them for a long weekend after a meeting less than two weeks ago. Their neighborhood received evacuation orders early that morning. Joe told me that they'd woken up in the wee hours because they smelled smoke. They woke the neighbors next door, who have an infant child, and then proceeded to pack all their important papers, computer, clothing, and a few other things in the car before they left for the airport. The neighbors called Joe during the airport trip and said the mandatory evacuation notice had come, so he should not come home.
During lunch I looked at news reports online. Everyplace we had been during my visit was under fire watch, being evacuated, already evacuated, burning, or burned. I called Joe just before I left the office last evening. He was in the middle of packing a truck at the church where he and Trudy both work. Del Mar was threatened, and they were packing up the irreplaceable things. He told me he had a place to stay for the night, and he would call me later. This morning my boss called and passed along news from Trudy. They received notice that they could return home, but then another evacuation order went out. Joe had not even bothered to go home because the traffic was so bad.
It is very different watching and reading news of a disaster when people you know are involved--or places you have been. It makes it much more personal. On the train ride home last evening I found myself pondering my own preparedness for a disaster. What if I was given 30 minutes or less to get out of my home? What would I take? What do I consider important or irreplaceable? What could I realistically grab and load into my small car?
There are advantages to living in a small apartment. I do not have many places to stash things, so most of what I own is readily accessible. And with the recent purge, there is a lot less "stuff" to sort through if I had to leave. All of my important papers, files, and family records and pictures are in the three remaining plastic file drawers that sit by the back door of my apartment. My journals are in two archive boxes in the back closet--also close to the back door of my apartment. All of the clothes in my closet could be taken out to the car in two armloads, and those in my dresser could probably be stuffed in one or two of the small suitcases. My flute is usually out because I play it frequently. After that, it would be whatever else I had time to grab and fit in my car.
What I did realize is that I don't have a lot of my important information in one central place. Insurance policy numbers, group medical numbers, bank account numbers, emergency contact numbers, inventory of what is in my safe deposit box, etc. So today I stopped at a local Borders and bought a Moleskine Memo Pockets. I will be transcribing all that information onto index cards to go in the pockets, and it will stay with me.
Tomorrow I will try to call Joe and see what the latest news is. And I will probably again be amazed at his--and Trudy's--matter of fact, almost cheerful, demeanor in the face of the fires. In the meantime, I will pray for him and Trudy, and for all those in the path of the fires.
Peace,
Jeffri
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Purge Update: Laundry Disaster
I am preparing to attend a meeting of the National Organization of Episcopal Resource Center. Traveling means having clean clothes. Having clean clothes means doing laundry. So this morning I took my laundry baskets down to the laundry room and filled three washing machines--one with sheets and towels, the other two with clothes.
While the clothes were in the washers, I loaded all the stuff going to Goodwill into the car. By the time that and a couple of other small chores were done, it was time to put the three loads of laundry into two dryers--which are significantly larger than the washers. Sheets, towels, underwear, socks and the like into one dryer, and the permanent press and other work clothes in the other. All the tee shirts and other pullovers I took back to the apartment and hung on a rack to dry.
During the dry cycle I paid bills and updated my checkbook. Just enough time to do that before going back to the laundry room to pull the permanent press stuff out of the dryer. I like to pull it out while it is still a bit damp and put it on hangers. Once I emptied the dryer, I noticed a Chapstick in the bottom of it. The cap was still on, so I did not think anything of it and threw it out. Back to the apartment again to hang up the damp clothes.
The first shirt I pulled out of the basket had a stain on the front. I thought, I don't remember spilling anything on the front of this. I guess I'll have to hit it with spot remover. As I tossed it on the table, I noticed similar stains on the back of it. Well, that's not right, I thought. The next shirt I pulled out was a light colored one. It also had stains on it. Red stains. Ick. Cherry Chapstick all over EVERYTHING. When I tried to remove the stain, I ended up with weird green stains, or grease stains. That meant everything from that load of laundry had to be thrown out.
Of course, that totally screwed up my whole afternoon schedule. I had been planning to start replacing the clothes, just not all at once. So I dug out a couple of Kohl's gift cards I'd been given and then started out on my errands. Post Office, Goodwill to drop off the stuff in the car, bank. Then, instead of meeting Mom for coffee as we had originally planned, I met her at Kohl's at her suggestion. She said I might as well take advantage of her senior discount.
Two pairs of slacks, two dress shirts, three more casual shirts, two belts, two ties, and some underwear later, the initial bill came to close to $300. Ouch! Fortunately, between the gift cards and Mom's discount it came to half that. Of course, my stepfather thinks I'm nuts because I now have not many clothes in my closet. Mom thinks it is great. I like the fact that all my clothes--work clothes, casual clothes, good winter coat, Faire garb, dance camp skirts and sarongs, and my alb--fit in one closet. Besides, how many clothes do I really need? I work five days a week, I have five work shirts.
On the other hand, it means I absolutely must do laundry every week. You win some, and you lose some.
Peace,
Jeffri
While the clothes were in the washers, I loaded all the stuff going to Goodwill into the car. By the time that and a couple of other small chores were done, it was time to put the three loads of laundry into two dryers--which are significantly larger than the washers. Sheets, towels, underwear, socks and the like into one dryer, and the permanent press and other work clothes in the other. All the tee shirts and other pullovers I took back to the apartment and hung on a rack to dry.
During the dry cycle I paid bills and updated my checkbook. Just enough time to do that before going back to the laundry room to pull the permanent press stuff out of the dryer. I like to pull it out while it is still a bit damp and put it on hangers. Once I emptied the dryer, I noticed a Chapstick in the bottom of it. The cap was still on, so I did not think anything of it and threw it out. Back to the apartment again to hang up the damp clothes.
The first shirt I pulled out of the basket had a stain on the front. I thought, I don't remember spilling anything on the front of this. I guess I'll have to hit it with spot remover. As I tossed it on the table, I noticed similar stains on the back of it. Well, that's not right, I thought. The next shirt I pulled out was a light colored one. It also had stains on it. Red stains. Ick. Cherry Chapstick all over EVERYTHING. When I tried to remove the stain, I ended up with weird green stains, or grease stains. That meant everything from that load of laundry had to be thrown out.
Of course, that totally screwed up my whole afternoon schedule. I had been planning to start replacing the clothes, just not all at once. So I dug out a couple of Kohl's gift cards I'd been given and then started out on my errands. Post Office, Goodwill to drop off the stuff in the car, bank. Then, instead of meeting Mom for coffee as we had originally planned, I met her at Kohl's at her suggestion. She said I might as well take advantage of her senior discount.
Two pairs of slacks, two dress shirts, three more casual shirts, two belts, two ties, and some underwear later, the initial bill came to close to $300. Ouch! Fortunately, between the gift cards and Mom's discount it came to half that. Of course, my stepfather thinks I'm nuts because I now have not many clothes in my closet. Mom thinks it is great. I like the fact that all my clothes--work clothes, casual clothes, good winter coat, Faire garb, dance camp skirts and sarongs, and my alb--fit in one closet. Besides, how many clothes do I really need? I work five days a week, I have five work shirts.
On the other hand, it means I absolutely must do laundry every week. You win some, and you lose some.
Peace,
Jeffri
Sunday, September 23, 2007
I'm Contagious!
This evening I decided to go over to the Triangle Community Center for their "Saturday Night Out." On a good night there are several things going on--folks playing a variety of games, a movie on the TV, and folks just hanging out and talking. I have not been to the Center in a while--sort of a "recovery period" after having spent six years on the board. There were seven of us there at the height of the evening, and for a first portion of it, I was the only non-board member there. Mostly we just chatted. At some point we started talking about how the space might be reconfigured, if the board decides to stay in the current space for the long term. That became a conversation about what to do with the "Resource Room." I mentioned that I have been in the process of purging my apartment.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of activity. We started going through things in the "Resource Room" and piling stuff on dollies to take to the dumpster. A couple of people started working in the office, too. Others attacked the walls and replaced old signs and pictures with more recent ones.
Once again, "buh bye" was heard throughout the space as we tossed stuff that we did not need to be keeping. Like the whole pile of drinks and snacks labelled with a sign that said "Expired. Do Not Use." So we are keeping this stacked in the "Resource Room" because? Buh bye. Outdated psychology texts? Buh bye.
By the time we left there was a half-formed plan to complete the process of going through the rest of the stuff in the "Resource Room" and making it useful space again instead of the dumping ground it has become.
So for the time being, if you don't want to end up catching the "purge and reorganize" bug, stay away from me. I'm obviously contagious!
Peace,
Jeffri
Suddenly, there was a flurry of activity. We started going through things in the "Resource Room" and piling stuff on dollies to take to the dumpster. A couple of people started working in the office, too. Others attacked the walls and replaced old signs and pictures with more recent ones.
Once again, "buh bye" was heard throughout the space as we tossed stuff that we did not need to be keeping. Like the whole pile of drinks and snacks labelled with a sign that said "Expired. Do Not Use." So we are keeping this stacked in the "Resource Room" because? Buh bye. Outdated psychology texts? Buh bye.
By the time we left there was a half-formed plan to complete the process of going through the rest of the stuff in the "Resource Room" and making it useful space again instead of the dumping ground it has become.
So for the time being, if you don't want to end up catching the "purge and reorganize" bug, stay away from me. I'm obviously contagious!
Peace,
Jeffri
Friday, September 14, 2007
Behind The Closet Door
The clothes closet that is.
I have two closets in my small apartment. One is in the small room, and the other is at the end of the tiny back hallway that is between the large room and the back door--which I use as the main entrance. The only other "built-in" storage, excluding the kitchen, is a shelf that was built over the back door that takes advantage of the high ceilings to create a little more storage space.
As I noted before, I am in the midst of the "reorganizing" phase. This evening I spent time reorganizing the closet in the small room. Eventually, I hope that all the clothing and clothing related stuff will be in that closet, while the other will serve as general storage. To facilitate orderly, and easily retrievable, storage in the closet, I purchased four Sweater Boxes and six Men's Shoe Boxes at the Container Store.
All of my winter gear, except coats, is in one of the shoe boxes. One of the sweater boxes holds all the smaller canvas tote bags that I use on a regular basis to lug stuff around. Two other sweater boxes contain my "Summer Shirts," and one my "Winter Shirts." Another shoe box has a couple of rugby shirts. What surprised me is that I still have one sweater box and four shoe boxes with nothing in them on the closet shelves! My first thought was to take them back NOW!!! Five more places to stash accumulated, unneeded STUFF. However, I think I will wait until I finish the reorganizing phase before I do. They might come in handy as I clean out my dresser and reorganize the hall closet.
Today the Moleskinerie site had a link to the Web Worker Daily blog, because it mentioned using a Moleskinerie notebook. The post, Declutter Your Desk to Improve Your Productivity, has some are some pretty good guidelines for organizing your work space. Some of the guidelines work well in general, too. Maybe I will print it out for my colleagues--you never know when we might need them at the office...
Peace,
Jeffri
I have two closets in my small apartment. One is in the small room, and the other is at the end of the tiny back hallway that is between the large room and the back door--which I use as the main entrance. The only other "built-in" storage, excluding the kitchen, is a shelf that was built over the back door that takes advantage of the high ceilings to create a little more storage space.
As I noted before, I am in the midst of the "reorganizing" phase. This evening I spent time reorganizing the closet in the small room. Eventually, I hope that all the clothing and clothing related stuff will be in that closet, while the other will serve as general storage. To facilitate orderly, and easily retrievable, storage in the closet, I purchased four Sweater Boxes and six Men's Shoe Boxes at the Container Store.
All of my winter gear, except coats, is in one of the shoe boxes. One of the sweater boxes holds all the smaller canvas tote bags that I use on a regular basis to lug stuff around. Two other sweater boxes contain my "Summer Shirts," and one my "Winter Shirts." Another shoe box has a couple of rugby shirts. What surprised me is that I still have one sweater box and four shoe boxes with nothing in them on the closet shelves! My first thought was to take them back NOW!!! Five more places to stash accumulated, unneeded STUFF. However, I think I will wait until I finish the reorganizing phase before I do. They might come in handy as I clean out my dresser and reorganize the hall closet.
Today the Moleskinerie site had a link to the Web Worker Daily blog, because it mentioned using a Moleskinerie notebook. The post, Declutter Your Desk to Improve Your Productivity, has some are some pretty good guidelines for organizing your work space. Some of the guidelines work well in general, too. Maybe I will print it out for my colleagues--you never know when we might need them at the office...
Peace,
Jeffri
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
It's All My Fault
One of my friends blames me for the current state of her homes, and a second may soon join her. What did I do? I talked about the Great Purge taking place at my apartment.
This evening on the way home from the second trip in three days to the Container Store in White Plains, I stopped by Friend A's apartment to pick up some CD/DVD holders that she is getting rid of. Her DVDs are now in a self-contained case, which takes up about 1/3 the space of the small baskets they were in before. Mine are now in a single wire-mesh basket rather than taking up an entire shelf of my desk unit. It is amazing how clearing that one shelf and putting everything in two wire-mesh baskets visually opens up not just the shelf, but the whole corner (my computer CDs and a couple of other odds and ends are in the second basket, thus consolidating more STUFF).
Meanwhile, A's apartment looks like mine did last weekend, except that she has twice the space I do, if not more. There's a full garbage bag sitting outside her front door waiting to go out to the curb for collection. There is at least one on the floor being filled. She has de-junked most of her drawers and reworked one end of her big closet with new wire shelves. Her home is in a state of upheaval, and it is all my fault.
And then there is Friend B, who has lived in his home for 23 years (I feel like such a nomad compared to him!). He said he has been inspired to at least consider how he is going to tackle his basement. I told him I am available to consult.
Even Mom is talking about undertaking a purge. That, however, is not my fault.
This evening, after reorganizing the DVDs, I took out bag number 5 of trash--mostly the empty DVD clamshells. Bag number 6 sits in front of the fireplace half-full. The actual purge has slowed down. Mostly I am reorganizing. Of course, that process also results in getting rid of some more stuff. However, it is nowhere near the amount that has already been tossed or is sitting in four 35-gallon plastic tubs. The tubs will go to Goodwill in a week or two, once I have finished the reorganization process, at which point the Purge should be pretty much done as well.
I even found a couple of things I'd stashed away for gifts at Christmas. I had all but forgotten them. Now I have a whole drawer that holds future gifts.
Next: Tackling the Clothes Closet.
Peace,
Jeffri
This evening on the way home from the second trip in three days to the Container Store in White Plains, I stopped by Friend A's apartment to pick up some CD/DVD holders that she is getting rid of. Her DVDs are now in a self-contained case, which takes up about 1/3 the space of the small baskets they were in before. Mine are now in a single wire-mesh basket rather than taking up an entire shelf of my desk unit. It is amazing how clearing that one shelf and putting everything in two wire-mesh baskets visually opens up not just the shelf, but the whole corner (my computer CDs and a couple of other odds and ends are in the second basket, thus consolidating more STUFF).
Meanwhile, A's apartment looks like mine did last weekend, except that she has twice the space I do, if not more. There's a full garbage bag sitting outside her front door waiting to go out to the curb for collection. There is at least one on the floor being filled. She has de-junked most of her drawers and reworked one end of her big closet with new wire shelves. Her home is in a state of upheaval, and it is all my fault.
And then there is Friend B, who has lived in his home for 23 years (I feel like such a nomad compared to him!). He said he has been inspired to at least consider how he is going to tackle his basement. I told him I am available to consult.
Even Mom is talking about undertaking a purge. That, however, is not my fault.
This evening, after reorganizing the DVDs, I took out bag number 5 of trash--mostly the empty DVD clamshells. Bag number 6 sits in front of the fireplace half-full. The actual purge has slowed down. Mostly I am reorganizing. Of course, that process also results in getting rid of some more stuff. However, it is nowhere near the amount that has already been tossed or is sitting in four 35-gallon plastic tubs. The tubs will go to Goodwill in a week or two, once I have finished the reorganization process, at which point the Purge should be pretty much done as well.
I even found a couple of things I'd stashed away for gifts at Christmas. I had all but forgotten them. Now I have a whole drawer that holds future gifts.
Next: Tackling the Clothes Closet.
Peace,
Jeffri
Monday, September 3, 2007
Photographs And Memories
Those of you of a certain age will know this reference. And was there a high school prom in the late seventies that did NOT have this as a its theme? It was the theme of my senior prom in 1978. I would not usually remember that, except I found the pictures and the invitation today while going through another drawer of stuff.
This 24" x 13" x 10" drawer was filled to overflowing with photos, negatives, 3 1/2" floppies and CD's with .jpg files, and a few other odds and ends of memorabilia. Needless to say, today's 15 minutes actually took five hours. I emptied two photo albums that were not full and tossed them. Blurred photos? Trash. Half a face? Ditto. Twenty-five photos of the Yankee Clipper under sail? All but a few sunk into the garbage bag. Just plain bad pictures? Into the circular file, as we used to say in college. Negatives? No need. We can scan any picture we want a copy of. And who needs duplicate sets of most of the pictures I took over the last 15 years? Buh-bye.
Well, I did keep two copies of a favorite picture of my father and me taken about two years before he died. One will go with other family pictures under the glass top of my dresser. The other went into the pile of "to save" photos.
Sorting through the pictures brought back lots of memories--good, bad, bittersweet...
There were, of course, the pictures of both my junior and senior proms and of the Windjammer cruise Dad and I took in 1991. I watched my brother's kids, now 9, 14, 18 and 19, grow up all over again. I revisited Ireland. There was the last Christmas we brought my Grandmother down from the nursing home. I even found a picture of Tom and me from junior high school, which I managed to leave behind when I went to his place for dinner this evening. (And after dinner we spent time going through old high school yearbooks. It is hard to believe that we have known each other for 40 years!)
Over the last couple of months I have been trying to track down my friend Vicky. Some of the pictures I found this afternoon were of her wedding to Matthew. That was a double trip down memory lane because her wedding in 1993 brought together three of us who had gone to college together in Minnesota. (Victoria Kesler Gullett, if you stumble across this, email me. Please.)
And there were the inevitable pictures of Brian and me from the nearly 11 1/2 years we were together. The hardest ones to sort through were the ones from the cruise we took for our 11th anniversary--3 1/2 months before we separated. But there were happy pictures, too. Brian receiving his Master's Degree. The two of us on my 30th birthday, at various Triangle Community Center events, on vacation...
Once I had them sorted, I checked the backs to make sure I could identify who, what, when and where as much as possible. Those that had no information, I added it. Occasionally, I had to dig out one of my journals or old calendars. In another 50 years, no one may care, but one of my brother's kids may take over my job as family historian and want to know.
The photos are now organized by year and are in one box (the black one). The floppies, CD's and the boxes of slides from my summer in Germany are in another (the blue one). And just for comparison, here are the boxes in the drawer.
At the end of the afternoon, I took one half-full, but heavy, trash bag out to the dumpster. I also reboxed my journals. I had been keeping a couple of archive boxes folded up, again because I thought I would be moving in a year or so. Since I seem to be here for the duration, I might as well use them so that stored things are in identical boxes for easy stacking. When I took the two old boxes out to the dumpster, one of my neighbors asked me for them, because he is packing to move. I also gave them a roll of bubble wrap that was sitting in the back of a closet waiting for the move that has not happened. More stuff out the door!
The few odds and ends that were not pictures all went someplace else. An envelope of letters from my college years went into the appropriate box of journals. Diplomas are now with other important documents. My baby cup and bank sit happily on display with my crystal and Depression Glass collection. A couple of family heirlooms are now stored with the others.
That leaves my baby hairbrush. Do I really need to keep that, Mom?
Peace,
Jeffri
Friday, August 31, 2007
The Great Purge Begins...
...Again.
Usually it happens when we move. Or when we remodel. We sort through everything we own and get rid of "stuff." Although, sometimes the stuff seems to multiply by the time we unpack in the new place. How do we fit all of this stuff in the space we have now?
This is especially true when we move into a smaller place. My last three moves have been into increasingly smaller apartments. Each time I went through my books, my papers, my furniture, everything I owned. I donated a lot of stuff to Goodwill, and I threw out even more stuff. Occasionally, I have regretted throwing something out, but most of it I have not missed.
I had more practice with sorting and tossing three years ago when we moved off our floor at work during renovations. And since we were going to be on the same floor at the end of the renovation, we moved twice! And because I had no boss at the time, I had not only my own workspace and files to empty, sort, and pack, but also an entire other office. The whole department shared in the sorting and packing of our portion of two storage rooms on the floor. I was ruthless, especially since we were going to have less space for files and storage at the end of the renovation. In fact, during the cleaning out of the larger room, we discovered a whole set of shelves with things that belonged to my section that had been hidden behind a stack of boxes belonging to another department. These were things I had not seen in the two-and-a-half years I had been on the job, and no one had asked for them during that time. We threw out everything on those shelves, except for two copies of anything that we felt should be archived. I was so efficient that my coworkers asked me to help them go through their things.
"When was the last time you used this," I would ask.
"When was the last time anyone ordered this resource?"
"How many copies of this do we really need?"
"How much of this needs to be archived, and how much of the rest of it do we need to keep around?"
We don't? Then buh-bye. In fact, "buh-bye" got said so many times that it became the departmental catch phrase.
So here it is the beginning of my third year in this apartment--all 405 square feet of it. When I moved here, I did not really intended to stay this long. Yet the lease is signed, and here I seem to be for the foreseeable future. I am taking a good hard look at the space with an eye on doing some redecorating. I started looking at decorating books in the library and the bookstores--especially ones about apartments and small spaces. Soon I found myself leafing through, and then reading, books about organizing.
So, the first step in the redecorating process is to purge my stuff. I started it half-heartedly a couple of weeks ago when I brought home a new book and tried to figure out where on my bookshelves it was going to fit. Time to implement my friend Rachel's rule for buying new books: For every new book that comes into the house, two old ones have to go. Not only did I remove two books, I actually filled half of a copy paper box, which has been sitting in front of the fireplace ever since.
This week, I decided it was time to get serious. I implemented a plan to spend a minimum of 15 minutes every day going through stuff. Yesterday and today I started sorting my files.
Do I really need copies of the annual car insurance policies for every year dating back to when I first bought the car? No. Buh-bye.
Why on earth do I still have the instructions for putting together the desk chair that broke last year and was tossed and the bookshelves I gave to a friend over ten years ago? Buh-bye.
Accumulated plans and articles for the dollhouse I will probably never build--the most recent one dating from 2000? Buh-bye.
The information about puppets I can find in the library or online the next time I need it? Buh-bye.
By the time I took out the filled garbage bag this evening--almost too heavy for me to lift--I had emptied the equivalent of one of my six 24" long file drawers. Which will also go, yes, you guessed it, "buh-bye" at the end of this process.
I have a list. I will keep you posted.
Peace,
Jeffri
P.S. Be honest. After reading the title you thought this had something to do with bishops and parishes, didn't you?
Usually it happens when we move. Or when we remodel. We sort through everything we own and get rid of "stuff." Although, sometimes the stuff seems to multiply by the time we unpack in the new place. How do we fit all of this stuff in the space we have now?
This is especially true when we move into a smaller place. My last three moves have been into increasingly smaller apartments. Each time I went through my books, my papers, my furniture, everything I owned. I donated a lot of stuff to Goodwill, and I threw out even more stuff. Occasionally, I have regretted throwing something out, but most of it I have not missed.
I had more practice with sorting and tossing three years ago when we moved off our floor at work during renovations. And since we were going to be on the same floor at the end of the renovation, we moved twice! And because I had no boss at the time, I had not only my own workspace and files to empty, sort, and pack, but also an entire other office. The whole department shared in the sorting and packing of our portion of two storage rooms on the floor. I was ruthless, especially since we were going to have less space for files and storage at the end of the renovation. In fact, during the cleaning out of the larger room, we discovered a whole set of shelves with things that belonged to my section that had been hidden behind a stack of boxes belonging to another department. These were things I had not seen in the two-and-a-half years I had been on the job, and no one had asked for them during that time. We threw out everything on those shelves, except for two copies of anything that we felt should be archived. I was so efficient that my coworkers asked me to help them go through their things.
"When was the last time you used this," I would ask.
"When was the last time anyone ordered this resource?"
"How many copies of this do we really need?"
"How much of this needs to be archived, and how much of the rest of it do we need to keep around?"
We don't? Then buh-bye. In fact, "buh-bye" got said so many times that it became the departmental catch phrase.
So here it is the beginning of my third year in this apartment--all 405 square feet of it. When I moved here, I did not really intended to stay this long. Yet the lease is signed, and here I seem to be for the foreseeable future. I am taking a good hard look at the space with an eye on doing some redecorating. I started looking at decorating books in the library and the bookstores--especially ones about apartments and small spaces. Soon I found myself leafing through, and then reading, books about organizing.
So, the first step in the redecorating process is to purge my stuff. I started it half-heartedly a couple of weeks ago when I brought home a new book and tried to figure out where on my bookshelves it was going to fit. Time to implement my friend Rachel's rule for buying new books: For every new book that comes into the house, two old ones have to go. Not only did I remove two books, I actually filled half of a copy paper box, which has been sitting in front of the fireplace ever since.
This week, I decided it was time to get serious. I implemented a plan to spend a minimum of 15 minutes every day going through stuff. Yesterday and today I started sorting my files.
Do I really need copies of the annual car insurance policies for every year dating back to when I first bought the car? No. Buh-bye.
Why on earth do I still have the instructions for putting together the desk chair that broke last year and was tossed and the bookshelves I gave to a friend over ten years ago? Buh-bye.
Accumulated plans and articles for the dollhouse I will probably never build--the most recent one dating from 2000? Buh-bye.
The information about puppets I can find in the library or online the next time I need it? Buh-bye.
By the time I took out the filled garbage bag this evening--almost too heavy for me to lift--I had emptied the equivalent of one of my six 24" long file drawers. Which will also go, yes, you guessed it, "buh-bye" at the end of this process.
I have a list. I will keep you posted.
Peace,
Jeffri
P.S. Be honest. After reading the title you thought this had something to do with bishops and parishes, didn't you?
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