Things That Are Currently On My Desk…and What They Say About Me

I am the type of person who longs for a pristine and clutter-free work surface. I imagine that in my ideal work space my utterly clean desk would just sport a single stalk of bamboo in a clear glass cylinder…or maybe one perfect picture of Langston in a teak frame, his eyes shining with love for the photographer (me).

What I do know is that it would not display the current assortment of oddities:

1- Four neatly stacked random cds. Two of which are photo cds of Steelcase executives from January photo shoots. These pictures need to be loaded onto our company shared site but I don’t know who our vendor for this is anymore, don’t have the software needed to view them, and my unanswered and unasked questions have led me to just postpone any action. I don’t even know what the other two cds are.
2- A certificate from Omaha Steaks inviting me to buy their “limited time offer” Celebration Pack of assorted steaks and burgers. If I act before the end of the month I also get a set of steak knives and a cutting board….plus 8 additional burger patties!!! This offer does seem to be too good to resist. So, it sits here…just waiting to be sent in….and waiting. Maybe I’ve procrastinated so long because it just didn’t seem like spring here. I couldn’t imagine firing up the grill for anything other than a heat source in the frigid weather. But now I just know I’ll act on the offer before the end of the week. I know it. Bring on the meat!!
3- A blue paperclip holder guy. This was a stocking stuffer from Christmas. I thought it would be really helpful since sometimes I find myself searching for paperclips. But for some reason he has not entered my conscious mind because I continue to search high and low for paperclips…only afterwards do I remember, oh yeah, I’ve got that blue thing right here. If I never use the paperclips he endlessly presents does he have a purpose? Without a purpose does he have a function? When no one’s around does he stop grinning?
4- An index card box with alphabetical dividers. What a clever way to keep business cards and important numbers at my finger tip! However, I have neither added to this collection nor retrieved information from it in years. Yes, years. How do I know this? Well, one boring afternoon during spring break I actually started looking through it and found cards identifying my healthcare providers when I lived in Lansing (7 years ago), reporters for publications that have since gone out of business, my blood donor card from when I worked at American Red Cross, a recipe for a bourbon chicken casserole I never made (and doesn’t really even look all that tasty), a business card for a woman who makes Raggedy Ann dolls (for a gift I gave, must have been 10 years ago, to someone whose name I now can’t even remember – let alone her kid).
5- A desk fan. Working here in the hermetically sealed office work the air flow can sometimes bring me down! Cold in the morning…hot in the afternoon…a girl’s gotta have a little air movement…I don’t care what facilities says…they’re not the one expected to work in this oven! OK…along with the stalk of bamboo and the devastatingly cute picture of Langston I’d really have to keep the fan too…forget sophistication – who am I kidding?

So, what does all this say about me? What kind of window into my soul have I just flung open?? I guess the big revelation is that I’m lazy. Pretty much all of this clutter could go if I just quit procrastinating, opened my eyes and possibly the trash can, and just let it go. And maybe I’ll just do that…yeah…maybe I’ll take care of it today…you just watch me! Except, of course, for the fan.