Cleaning Shelves

I dusted off two tall book cases in my den. There were six shelves worth of books, the rest of the shelves piled high with clutter. I cleaned off each shelf, and dusted it with Pledge. I then took some time to deal with the clutter.

A few weeks ago, I read an article by Penelope Kramer about cleaning out your clutter in Utne magazine. She writes that clearing your clutter "clears a path to the soul by creating a serene space in which to foster your dreams and plans."

I have to admit that now that I'm almost finished cleaning off the shelves and throwing out the junk (I filled two kitchen garbage bags), the room feels more serene. More importantly, I feel more serene.

One of the things I threw out was an old paperback dictionary. I had owned it since high school. I used it so frequently, that it split down the middle. I managed to keep both halves of this dictionary together. Why did I keep this for so long? My wife has a bigger dictionary, plus there are dictionaries on-line. On page 265 of this old dictionary, a high school classmate wrote his name: Luis Freire. The page had the words between diva and division. The hardest word on this page looks like diverticulitis (inflammation of a tubular sac branching off from a canal or cavity). I can't imagine what compelled him to write his name in my dictionary. But it doesn't matter now, does it? I threw out this old reference book, seeking more serenity.