Day one of my no reading/digital media challenge, otherwise known as reading deprivation week, found me up in our loft determined to clear away the clutter that has been building over the years. This is mostly clutter of a personal nature: photos, books, cd’s and cards we’ve received through the years. After I cleared a path, I filled the top of the table space with every loose picture we have. These spanned from when I was young through high school, college, post-college, pre-husband, dating, wedding, honeymoon, baby, holidays, vacations. So many pictures.
The pictures had little organization to them. I’d find pictures of our wedding mixed in with my college mementos. Pictures of my family (before us) mixed with his pictures (before me). How this happened, I have not a clue! So I sorted and sorted trying to make a chronological timeline of my and our life together. That was too much, at least for now, so I put them in groups according to life stages and trips.
I’m likely dating myself here, but do you remember when you would bring your FILM to CVS or another drugstore or even MOTO PHOTO where you could get them developed in just an hour? There was always a deal to get two sets of the prints and of course now these need serious weeding out. I threw away pictures. I never thought I’d be able to tackle this job. How many pictures does one need?
Sorting pictures was like skipping through time. So many good memories. I found a great picture of me and my dad atop one of the Adirondack peaks (we used to hike together when I was in my 20’s and he was about my age now). Did I appreciate the experience as much as I do the memory? The memories from college and my late 20’s, skydiving pictures I forgot I had, pictures of a trip we took to Ireland with my parents a couple years after we got married. The pictures of my mom are extra special now that she’s no longer here and it was a powerful experience revisiting these moments in time.
Now that the pictures are narrowed and sorted, I’m moving on to our vast CD collection and I’ve already found some long forgotten gems. Cue the CD player and here I go…
MC
The Artist’s Way Week 4: Recovering a Sense of Integrity
- Digging beyond the word OK
- Tossing out the old and unworkable to make room for the new and suitable
- Revisiting buried dreams
- Reading deprivation
- Describing your ideal environment
- Time traveling to 8 and 80
- Create an artist’s space
- Create an artist’s prayer
- Artist’s date
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I Am Writing 