Zen and the Art of Chucking…

The last few weeks of my life, post holiday hiatus in the sun, have consisted of catching up on precious sleep (well trying to get back into a normal sleep pattern) and my new found calling…Zen and the Art of Chucking. Well don’t be under any illusions I have found nirvana…but I did find all my Nirvana albums if that will suffice?

Really, the last few weeks have been a time of sorting things into ‘recycle’, ‘donate’, ‘re-gift’, ‘chuck’, and er, ‘return to rightful owner’ and I should apologise in advance to Nicole for keeping her brother’s Ricky Martin album since 1996, though I’m not sure he’d want it back.

Anyhow, amid the dust I have been having a rather cathartic experience. It’s almost like the art of sorting and ordering ones’ external life assists with getting the internal one back on track. As if the ‘chucking’ out of bits of your past literally purges the emotions and cares invested in all this stuff.

Now I should say I’m not really a pack rat. It’s the sorting out of the last of my grandfather’s things that are still in the old terrace house and turning the spare room into a proper study/guest room. Oh and getting rid of the accumulation of about 5 years of bits of paper from my Masters. The secret of higher education I have learned is how many bits of paper you have in your house. I have so many bits of paper we would be putting them out for paper recycling for months so tomorrow we are off to the Visy Recycling Depot with a car load. And that’s not the only place getting my custom. I’m making friends with the local Salvation Army depot, and tomorrow’s car load marks my second trip. Trust me, there will be more.

For me as I sort out all these photocopied articles on everything from multiple regression through to how to construct statements of significance and piles of reading on art and life in the Italian states from 1200 – 1600 (yep, those exiting years!) I have realised just how much I have forgotten…most of the time I can barely remember studying or reading on these topics. So what remains? Ask me again when I’m not this tired. Hot bath and a good lie down here I come.

And Zen you ask? ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz