Cleaning day

I really dislike holidays. I normally end up just sitting at home watching Sarah read a book. She’s never too keen on doing anything except to go out and get food (always the same food too).

So, instead I have been cleaning all the junk out of my room in preparation for leaving.

I have always tried not to be too attached to material things. One of the reasons I don’t wear any jewellery or even a watch is the fact that I don’t like the idea of being too emotionally attached to any material object.

On the other hand, I am very sentimental and I’m a hoarder. So, against my best efforts, my cupboard is literally brimming with things I have just never had the heart to throw away.

  • An easel my parents bought for me under the mistaken impression that I might actually work up the motivation to do some painting.
  • Books I bought with the intention of reading but never “found the time”: from Les Miserables to self-help to amateur electronics, they are all just a little more faded for having sat in my cupboard for years.
  • A card from my last job, wishing me well and telling me how much I will be missed.
  • Business cards meticulously collected from the conference I went to but that I have never had the chance to followed up on.
  • Countless piles of paper, with notes for great ideas, thoughts on philosophy, religion, art, short stories. All only partially finished.
  • Boxes and boxes of gifts well-meaning people have bought for me, only to be piled up with the boxes and boxes of stuff I have bought for myself.
  • I used to collect coins. Now it’s just a box full of useless bits of metal I am going to have to find a creative way to dispose of.

All of this will be gone to the dump soon enough. These past 4 years of my life have been very safe and unchallenging. Work and life has been far too easy. Here’s hoping the next 4 will be at least a little more interesting, if not more of a challenge 🙂