The Mess Inside My Brain
Here's a picture of my office. Lots of light. Lots of clutter on the shelves. And Buddha statues. I'll have to post a close-up. See the head to the right of the desk? And right now, I can't see my desk.
It happens. Often. I clean it off and out . . . and swear I will not let it reach critical mass again.
But it does.
I buy books on organizing. I read magazines on organizing. But what I really seem to need is someone to come in once a week and organize me. Which I really am not going to do. Because I am an intelligent woman and I should be able to handle this.
And today . . . in one of the endless magazine articles I read on decluttering . . . I had an epiphany. It's not my OFFICE that needs decluttering.
It's my mind.
I realize that when I am creating, I am messy about it. I have notebooks and computer files, I bop on the Internet, I stare out the window. I don't do it in a neat way. I don't use outlines. I use little clouds of ideas that I doodle on paper. And while I am creating, and in the process, as mail comes in or I find things in research, I toss it somewhere on my desk, knowing I'll find it later.
Then . . . then I reach this quantum physics collision of mess versus creativity, after which things are WAY TOO MESSY to create and I am distracted by mess. Usually by then, I am too busy or under a deadline, so I don't have TIME to tackle this now-massive project of decluttering or clearing off my desk. So I put it off. Until . . . like today, there is literally NOWHERE to put a mug of coffee or a glass of water. Then the trashbag comes into the office and I start.
So it's my MIND, not my clutter.
Which doesn't mean I see a way out of this. It's my process of creating and I don't want to screw with it.
Please tell me I am not alone.
11 comments:
I have no idea what you are talking about. ;)
And I love your office. Love the trim and paint. Love the wood floor. Love the view. And the mess.
(My husband is in your neck of the woods right now, btw. He works there more than he is home. We'd move, but all of our fam is in Oklahoma.)
Hi Heather:
Well, if your husband ever wants to come for dinner, shout. :-)
I love the view. It does inspire me . . . and actually, that pictures a little old. It's got MORE crap now. LOL!
E
Erica, I remember doing guest desks a year ago and you had but a little nook. Looks like you've moved up in the world! Congrats on getting a bigger space, (though it looks like you just get the one side of the room?). Spread out! Have fun with it.
I tend to accumulate clutter too. Whenever I start a new book I try to clean, but it clutters up so quickly. I think I like the look of a clean desk, but then, I put so much junk on it, I probably secretly really do like it messy.
I have a little purple buddha I bought for my desk a few weeks ago. He's smiling and I just laughed when I saw him in the store. I had to get him, cause he still makes me laugh. Cute guy.
M
Michele:
Well, my kids have the other side, since I don't want them on the Internet in their bedrooms--I feel safer knowing I can look over their shoulders and see who they are talking to.
And this is a new house, so yeah, I have more space, in a way. It's a different set-up. I generally like it a lot.
And like you, I think somehow I "like" messy a little bit--not insane messy, but enough to feel creative.
E
Hmm, probably deserves another trip to the couch that I didn't mind confessing to murderous dreams but I'd sooner die than show you my messy office!
Yours looks pretty tidy to me. :)
I'm compulsively neat when it comes to dishes, household finances, even laundry, but I create so messy I scare myself. BAD BAD BAD. There's dozens of papers on my desk, not even devoted to one story, a few scribbles for ms A, then something possesses me and I'll flip the page and do a coupla scribbles for ms B...and then waste an hour tomorrow turning pages this way and that in search of a snippet of dialogue...and so on...and so on
That's messy??? You have the coolest office! So pretty! Do you play piano?
My brain is messy, too. That's why I love One Note, LOL. It somehow lets me store all the random thoughts, scribblings, notes, everything in a semi-organized fashion.
My house drives me crazy, but I can't seem to organize it. When I try, I move piles around endlessly. I can spend five hours scrubbing out my refrigerator and making it perfect, while the rest of the kitchen is a disaster. Even when I clean, I get very little done.
So I write at Borders. I have to get out of the house every day, plus all the books inspire me.
lainey:
I will have to take a close-up of the desk. The DESK is insane. Papers. Receipts. That's the other thing about being a working writer. You need to track travel and so on related to your business. So I have little paper receipts from tolls and travel, and trips to OfficeMax. I HATE bookkeeping. Wanna move here and be my bookkeeper? I'll edit your work for free. :-)
E
Spy:
All right. I'm getting my camera to prove it to you guys. :-)
And I can do the same thing. I will organize my closet . . . and the laundry room will be overflowing.
E
My desk is so unusable that I just moved my laptop downstairs to the couch.
We try to keep a basket for mail, a basket for receipts, etc.
Maybe you need a separate place to do those activities - not your writing space.
ewoh:
Good suggestion. Maybe it's because this is kind of like my CAVE. I do it all here.
E
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