TASK #3

January 14th--January 21st

Lighten Your Load

A clear conscience is often the sign of a bad memory. Unknown

Men stash away stuff like chipmunks, because We HATE TO THROW ANYTHING AWAY. 
And when your buddy says, "I don't save shit", he does--it's just in his head. Which is worse. 

I am such a man. I'm not a hoarder. A hoarder is someone who saves weird crap, and saves it compulsively. Like the guy with a houseful of newspapers, or jars of grease, or the guy who puts strands of thread in envelopes, and files them by color. That's not me. I save things that came into my life and I couldn't bear to pitch. Stuff like report cards, concert tickets, coins, trading cards, a label from a "Lady Of The Lake" butter container that can be folded in a certain way to make it look like the Lady had big boobs, my mom's high school year book, and a linen napkin that I stole from a Paris cafe. 

And then there's the negative things. The bad report card, the summons I got after I was arrested for shoplifting, a break-up letter from my college girlfriend, an angry note from my mother (because I got arrested for shoplifting).

Why am I dragging this stuff along? I hardly look at it all. In some cases I can't remember WHY I saved a certain item.

So I cleaned house. And you know what? I didn't miss what I pitched.

TASK:

Lighten your load. Go into your basement, your attic, your garage, pull out those boxes and old suitcases and laundry bags and pour out your past in front of you. Select five items that MEAN SOMETHING to you, good or bad. And throw the rest of it away. Keep the photos. For now. 

PS. This is a photo of some of the stuff I carried with me. It says a lot about me...

Comments? You can e-mail me at joedoebula@gmail.com