Clarity

Straightening out the physical aspects of your life can also bring clarity to the mental ones.



Before

Two nights and twenty four actual hours later, the dust and grime had been wiped off the floors and surfaces of my room. It was a feat I have never done in the past, given the rushed performance to make way for the holiday season errands.

The meticulousness was beyond belief: every hardbound, every CD jewel case, and every wooden and stone ornaments have been carefully attended. The carpet layered with dirt has regained its old luster. Even the cost of procuring the cleaning materials has reached almost a thousand pesos - just for a taste of renewal that comes with these twice-in-a-year observance.

And it's all worth it.

There are three things I have learned, after all my stuff have been returned to their places: My inner kid relishes the thought that all my toys were never given away; that we lost a chunk of our humanity when we ceased sending written letters to loved ones; and that for all the claims of embracing a zen philosophy, my penchant for sentimentality and keeping keepsakes cannot afford an uncluttered space.

Lay hidden in drawers and boxes are life stories that are yet to be told.

After