I Need Emptier Shelves

NIGHT:

Some people want to have everything there is, that's why they need plenty of shelf space. The more the better.

I seriously envy two groups of people: 1) Those who have everything; and, 2) Those who have nothing.

I'm in the middle with an arbitrary collection, missing many things that'd make it complete, stacked on my shelves in arbitrary ways.

You see some guy who has everything on his shelves and it's nicely organized, maybe taking up a whole room, that's a beautiful look.

He always looks like someone who expects you to admire it and him. I hate to generalize but that's been my experience.

And you see a guy who has nothing -- a couple books, an empty wine bottle, an alarm clock -- he might be the happiest of all of us.

I'd like to be that guy sometime. Just empty everything out. Like a friend I had who joined a cult. They made him clear his shelves.

But I don't want to join a cult like that. He gave away everything and the next thing I knew he was mad when his parents kidnapped him.

Still, I'm in a battle with myself. I look at the shelf and think, "I didn't have that three months ago. Why do I need it now?"

The solution is to thin out a few things every now and then, when the spirit moves, then resist the impulse to go buy more.

I was at Goodwill tonight. And they had a nice CD shelf, one of those 4-5 shelf things. I came THAT close to getting it, then didn't.