What is in a name?

I'm wondering if Shakespeare had it right and that names are a meaningless convention. Would I still be the person I am if I had been born Michelle Lynn Armour or Lucinda Armour as my mother had once considered. This question comes to mind as a ghost from my past crossed my e-path this evening. It brought back a few embarrassing memories and then it occurred to me that this man shares the same first name as many other guys in my life. It is a common enough name and one I have always liked the sound of. But of all the names in the world how is it possible that I have had a "relationship" (relationship in this case is to be defined as anything from first kiss to unrequited love to lover) with no less than five guys who shared the same first name. This must be a very rare case. And any readers who know about my ex-husband - no, the name in question is not John. He was my one and only "toilet" and I hope to keep it that way.

Seriously, between lovers, friends, crushes, husbands, boyfriends...how is it possible to have that many with the same first name and they were all soooo memorable and all made big impacts in my life whether they knew it or not.

Perhaps, I should avoid men with this name on the future.

Point of Entry

According to the book there are three types of "clutter" that you might need to SHED. Physical clutter, schedule clutter and the clutter of bad habits. As a Administrative Assistant a great deal of my time is dictated by what the Project managers need me to do. I do have few tasks (DPOs, Web updates, blog updates, etc) that are exclusive tasks to me and although I might need final approval of a superior, I don't often receive work from them in these areas that must be done ASAP. Most of the work from the Project Managers needs to be done relatively quick.

As far as my personal life is concerned I used to have a lot of schedule clutter with kids, volunteering at church, social groups, etc. However, all of that has been pared down. Not all by my choice but gone none the less. Other than work, my only regular schedule commitments are the monthly meetings of my singles group. It's only once a month so I don't consider it clutter of any type.

Honestly, I need more clutter. I need to find a Tampa based church, a small group and get my tush back to the Gym three times a week. That's about as full of a schedule as I'd want right now. Have to keep most nights and weekends open for dating, writing, time with friends and family. Short story made long by my incessant need for details - I have no schedule clutter so I get to skip that section.

As far as physical is concerned, I've spent a great deal of time studying Julie Morgenstern's book Organizing from the Inside Out. I have the SPACE philosophy memorized, but still occasionally pick up the book for some tips I may have forgotten. Based on that my home is extremely organized. Some sections better than others.

But SHEDing isn't about organizing what you have. It is about do you need what you have. With this in mind I did a survey of my home and found a few area where I am storing items I no longer need or use. Some of them are harder to let go of than others. Some areas include:

My large DVD collection

PS2 system and games

Board/Card games

China dishes

Crystal goblets

Large book collection

Clothes

Sewing machine, patterns, material, etc.

Cross stitch kits, books, etc.

and sadly, all memorabilia of my ex-step-daughters

Each one of these areas is supposed to listed along with how much space they take up, the percentage of these items that are obsolete and (based on emotional attachment) how difficult it will be to rid these things from my life.

Not so quick, I am not supposed to jump in yet and start throwing stuff out.

The last type of clutter to consider is the clutter that comes from bad habits. After reviewing the book, I have determined a few bad habits which cause clutter in my life. I may discover more bad habits as time progresses and I have SHED some of these things from my life. But I'll start with the following:

Procrastination

Mindless Escapes (TV, internet, iPod apps)

For those of you that know me well you might have a list forming in your head of bad habits I should have mentioned. If that is the case, I politely request that you keep your trap shut...for now. Let me tackle some of this clutter and simplify my life and then feel free to e-mail me your lists.

After all, the purpose of all this goes back to my theme for the next phase of my life. Creative Expression. The more I am able to trim clutter (physical, schedule or bad habits) from my life the more time and energy I will have for pursuing my creative outlets.

Now that I have my list made, I must decide which area to tackle first. My book collection? My tendency to procrastinate? The china I haven't used in years? The crystal goblets I insisted we buy when we got our first house because I thought we were officially grown up...we only used the glasses once in the last 3 or 4 years. Perhaps my habit of turning on the TV as soon as I walk in the door at night and not turning it off until bed time. Any of these areas would be a great place to start.

However, you don't just jump in and start eliminating things from your life willy-nilly. Once I pick my first point of entry, I get to officially start the SHED process.

S is for Separating the Treasures. I have not read the chapter on Physical items yet, but when you look at Bad Habit clutter, you have to ask yourself what you get out of these habits? They must be serving me some kind of good either now or at some point in my life. So I must start by figuring out the good and finding other ways to achieve those same feelings without the bad habit cluttering up my life.

I'll report back once I've read the chapter on Physical clutter as by then I should have decided what my first point of entry will be.

In the meantime however, I have decided to attempt to leave the TV off after work until 8pm. That gives me a little over two hours to do household chores, make and eat dinner and time to write. I started this tonight and it's just now a little after 8. It almost feels like a treat now that I get to turn on the TV. But look at all the writing I've done. I've cooked a fabulous dinner, put away my leftovers and started a load of dishes. Yeah, me!

Until next time...thanks for reading!

Creative Expression

I've mulled over the theme for a few days and what I have decided on is "creative expression". There is so much more that I want the next phase of my life to be about. Love, passion, deeper connection to the important people in my life, family, children, etc. However, all that includes other people. For now, it is important for me to feel satisfied and fulfilled on my own and the last time I felt that fulfilled was when I was writing on a regular basis. That feeling of creativity, freedom and limitless possibilities was intoxicating. Focusing on that again is important to me on many levels. Plus I would like to establish a routine/pattern/habit of writing that I can continue with as life continues to change.

So now that I have named my theme, Julie Morgenstern's next chapter is to find your point of entry.

Wish me luck.