Toss, Salvage, Donate, Keep

One of the benefits of moving is the opportunity to go through all the stuff in the house and do major editing. I make four stacks – keep, toss, salvage, and donate. It’s not always easy to decide which pile is the right one. Toss is more obvious. Trash is trash and surprisingly I accumulate a ton of that. The salvage pile includes items like a blouse with a missing button. Keep and donate are more difficult. Dishes, clothes, and furniture normally fall into all the categories. Sometimes I make a fifth stack called “I’ll decide later”. By the time I’ve gone through everything, I have packed boxes labeled for the movers, tagged boxes with bright pink sticky notes for charity, and bags of trash are ready for the dumpster. Even with all the editing, I realize I have too much stuff.

Sometimes we need to assess the baggage in our personal and professional lives. Over the years, I learned we carry around baggage that hinders our growth toward healthy attitudes and creativity. Let’s start with the toss pile. Get rid of procrastination. This is one of my weaknesses. I tend to put off things I could be working on now. I claim I can do my best work under pressure, but why add to my stress. Get rid of guilt, resentment, and the “I can’t” attitude. They are counter-productive.

Salvage that under the bed project. I have a novel that fell apart because of September 11, 2001. I took a break from packing to read parts of that story and decided to box it because I think it may be some of my best work. When I’ve completed my current project, I plan to pull out MACON GEORGIA and rework it. Most writers have such manuscripts. Perhaps now is the time to revisit the work.

Donate your time to other writers. Every writer has something to pass on to their peers and beginners. We’ve all learned something along the way. Maybe a trick for formatting or tracking submissions would help a beginner or even a more experienced writer. Don’t keep your tips to yourself. Think about all the folks who helped you, and return the favor.

There are definite keeps in life. I treasure my family and friends. They have supported me through the bad times, shared my tears and disappointments. They have celebrated my successes and kicked me in the backside when needed. I could not survive as a person or a writer without them. I keep copies of my successes to encourage me when the project stumbles. And I maintain a file of failures to keep me humble when I succeed.

Cait Collins