WAG: The Clutter
The writing prompt for this weeks WAG was:
“WAG #18: Invisible Object” Look around your workspace, favourite chair, back yard, etc, and notice the objects around you. Choose one that is so familiar that you no longer notice it, even though it’s right next to you. Describe it as though you’re seeing it for the first time and particularly any feelings you have about it, past or present. Would you miss it if it was gone? No rules! Just write! (read more about it here… it’s not to late to write your own!)
So…. here goes…
The Clutter
The shit on my desk has been there for ages. I tidy; it regrows like weeds in my garden path. Some of it is paper that breeds when I’m not looking. A rack of unused staples and a pile of paper clips. Useful and invisible. Some of the clutter is made up of scribbled notes and catalogues, cords and computer bits that should be tucked away but always manage to come back.
Some is an odder kind of clutter: worthless bits I can’t throw away. An eight-eyed string doll that someone told me would help me find lost objects. A bottle of Wong To Yick. A single white die. A hematite stone. A piece of petrified wood someone gave me on my wedding day. Garden rocks a 6 year-old told me were magic. A fake Coach watch – a gift from a stranger in an airport. He had a bag full of them, and he was grateful for some off-handed advice. A wee red monkey. Tiger balm. Four sticks of incense blessed by a Tibetan lama. A tiny green box that contains two brass hooks that once belonged to my grandmother. She used them to hang a memory box. A medal I won in 1978 for being respectful.
Nine years those objects have gravitated toward their current home, now huddling in the bowl that is my monitor base. I don’t see them, but I can feel them. All mismatched gifts. Life’s flotsam.
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That’s beautiful writing. Those little things are precious. Don’t through them away! I have a few of those myself: A fairy statue off my birthday cake, a card with Jack Sparrow on it from my sister, a picture that I won on a cruise, old hair ties…etc etc.
Love this, ND! (And I’m wondering, what is ‘Wong to Yick’?) Ah, clutter. Can’t wait to do my WAG tomorrow!
@aubrie -> Thank you! Very kind of you.
@talli -> Wong To Yick is a liquid balm made of mostly methol, turpentine, and camphor. I massage it into pressure points on my hands to help with headaches.
@girl-frien’ -> Wrote you an email about posting your WAG so more people will see it. You have mail!
[ Follow me on Twitter: IndiaDrummond ]
Delete it from here, please. (as usual, I did the job THEN read the instructions.)
[ Follow me on Twitter: girlfrenkate ]
Done, GF. Thanks.
[ Follow me on Twitter: IndiaDrummond ]
That’s a very wonderful image, the bowl of unique bits.
Love it, particularly the last phrase – ‘life’s flotsam’. Nice!
Will join in as soon as my blog’s up and running.
[ Follow me on Twitter: rinsimpson ]
Lovely, especially the last phrase, sounds like a haven to write in.
[ Follow me on Twitter: MelanieTrev ]
An interesting collection – sounds like they have a hold on your heart. Perhaps there really is a bit of magic in that bowl.
~jon
[ Follow me on Twitter: jmstro ]
Lots of action in that description, ND. I envy that you got a Coach watch, fake or otherwise, in an airport. I only get a firm “feeling up” by a crabby TSA gal. Your desk sounds like the inside of my head — old, cluttered & related.
[ Follow me on Twitter: girlfrenkate ]
A lovely piece India. The stuff we keep says so much about us, our life and loves.