George in the stuff on Mum's deskMy mum is a writer.  That means she has lots of books everywhere and lots of papers and files and magazines. Everywhere, all over the place. Oh, don’t get me wrong the place isn’t a hoarder’s paradise where you have to inch your way down the hall way and clamber over piles of black sacks bulging with things that can never be thrown away. We do have plenty of floor space and you can sit on all the chairs and eat at the table. Just certain places – her office and bedroom – have ‘things’ spilling over where she puts them for ‘safe keeping’ and then forgets all about them.

Every now and then she has a resolute look on her face which I now recognise and I think – uh oh – this means trouble. The clutter – as she calls it – has to be examined to see what can be kept, what can be recycled and what can be shredded. So this is how it all goes:

First she grabs a pile of ‘stuff’ and brings it downstairs to the dining table where she can see it better. There may now be a space in the bedroom or office where the ‘stuff’ once lived but now there is a mess on the dining table where the ‘stuff’ now is – even if only temporary.  So she picks up a piece of paper and it is relegated to one of three piles: shredding, recycling, or keeping.  And sometimes there is a fourth pile: ‘to be read before deciding which pile it will go in.’

This continues throughout the morning or afternoon until the first original pile of ‘stuff’ has gone.  But now we have three or four more piles of ‘stuff’.  The first pile goes into the scary place under the stairs which is dark and full of other ‘stuff’ but it’s put into a bag for eventual shredding. The second pile goes into a bin which lives in the front garden and men come once a week and empty it into a big noisy lorry and the third pile goes back upstairs to be found a new home. If there is a fourth ‘reading’ pile then that tends to live on the dining room table and she’ll work her way through the letters or magazines over a period of time until it goes into one of three piles again.  And the process begins all over again.

You know, this got me thinking about humans and the stuff they accumulate in their lives.  Don’t you fill your lives with too much stuff? We cats come into the world with nothing and we leave the same way. Jesus had it right when he sent his disciples out into the world with just the clothes they stood up in as they had to rely on faith to get food, drink, a bed for the night and new clothes when necessary.

Have a look around each room in your house to see if you could let go of anything today.  Take it to a charity shop or sell it and give the proceeds to charity.  You might need the money yourself so sell the stuff on Amazon or EBay and use the money for something you really need – but don’t get more stuff!      

 

The picture is of George lying amongst the 'stuff' on Mum's desk!

A Cats Prayer

Lead me down all the right paths,
Keep me from fleas, bees, and baths.
Let me in should it storm,
Keep me safe, fed, and warm.

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