I can’t believe I actually did it, or

 A clean desktop.

 

I finally had a bit of time to myself and with bills paid, letters and e-mails to various friends that I had neglected were first on the agenda.

 

Those done, my thoughts, and finally energy, turned to cleaning off my desktop.

 

There are many theories as to the validity of a clean desktop, most written by those who chose to see a cluttered desktop as a sign of creativity including Einstein’s

 

“If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign of?”

(sorry can’t resist: apparently even Einstein used dangling participles!)

 

"Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid altogether. A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered desk drawer. All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure." ~ Mark Twain

 

"If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?" ~ Laurence J. Peter, paraphrase of Einstein

 

"It's pointless to have a nice clean desk, because it means you're not doing anything." ~ Michio Kaku

 

"Clutter in its highest and most organized form is called collecting." ~ Ada Louise Huxtable

 

That being said every couple of years I make the effort: in between I simply sort important and less-so-important-but-need-to-keep-for-reference and offload the later onto another surface. I could probably solve every problem ever thought of, never mind give you details on minute projects, recipes, statistics or whatever. Sometimes I actually do find something worthwhile having saved, so it doesn’t encourage me to let go.

 

I finally tackled the desktop and am ashamed to report that amongst the “urgent-leave-it-on-the-desk” was an unopened birthday card from last year as well as a Christmas greetings from 2020! Help.

 

But in one afternoon I waded through the lot and to my credit only put one small pile of books on another flat surface. Most of the rest was filed or tossed.

 

I promptly told both my sister and sister-in-law, I mean what’s the point of doing it if no one knows? That is the problem in the first place as my office is downstairs and I am the only one ever using it.

Feels good, may actually do it more often, but don’t hold your breath. Here for prosperity is the proof.