Day 3 - 134 -- Moving Forward

Another day dealing with clearing files, each bringing a flood of memories. Finding some papers was like finding old friends. The photos from one class project that I taught for years, made me smile and laugh. There looking back at me was a younger version of one of my colleagues -- a lot of water under many bridges since that photo was taken. Others brought research memories from different projects and research students. I saved some parts of each of those files and said goodbye to the other papers. One very huge and heavy recycling bag went down the hall tonight. This was from mainly one file drawer. One further drawer that has to be done will need to wait until next week. That one has less in terms of memories, so it should go more quickly.

Many times I've heard to 'just let it go.' It can happen, but it takes the right set of circumstances and feelings to get to the point where letting go is possible. I've been told that this can make a person feel better. There were some positive feelings today from seeing more room in the drawer for the next year and some of the last term files that need a home and from saying goodbye to things that I don't have to keep. Archivist is not part of my job description <smile>.  I feel that I've been a bit obsessive about keeping things, but often there just wasn't time to clear files every summer. Too many work activities occur only in the summer months and that is the only time that we can take our vacation -- not easy to take time off when classes are in session, after all.  Conference travel and presentations happen mainly in the May-August time frame. There are a few that happen throughout the school term, but those are not on the schedule every year. So -- this cleaning session is a rare event and not just due to my aversion to cleaning work. <grin>

Lyrics that speak to part of my musings today were written after hurricane Katrina. They carry a philosophy that we should all learn to embrace. Enjoy!

Breath in, Breath out, Move on -- Jimmy Buffet