Syndactyl Salutations

Thoughts on writing, knitting, and the world around me.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Reflection

I've had a lot on my mind lately, some of it has to do with large, overarching issues, some is smaller, more personal stuff. I go around and around it all, never getting anywhere useful, sort of like a dog chasing its tail.

I know it's really late for post-election analysis, but that's one of the things banging around in the corners of my brain. I voted for Obama, and I'm glad I did, but I did it with my eyes open, and I'm pretty sure that things are not going to change drastically because he was voted in. I'd like to believe that things during the next four years can't be as bad as they have been for the past eight, but I don't know that one man in a broken two-party system can effect that much positive change. I can only hope that putting him in rather than McCain/Palin may forestall further erosion of social policy and may finally bring us closer to the end of this sham of a war our government has insisted on waging in the name of oil (though, of course, they would rather call it national security).

I worry about us as a people, and me as an individual. On balance, I don't own tons of things, but I look around my room and see clutter that puts me in a state of paralysis when it comes to actually doing anything about it. I don't want tons of stuff, I don't use most of it, I certainly don't need most of it, but I can't bring myself to get rid of it. There are things given to me by other people, things that may prove useful down the road, things that make me sentimental for obscure or not-so-obscure reasons. There is, of course, my stash of knitting-related tools, materials, and information, which, although not large, is probably more than I can reasonably go through any time soon. I could probably get someone more organized and dispassionate than myself to go through things with me, but I'm not sure I want to give up control of those decisions. I acknowledge that this is a personal failing which extends to areas beyond my untidy accumulation of personal belongings.

So, the question is, what do I do about all of it, the big and the small, far-reaching and individual? How do I let go of emotional and physical excess in a way that is healthy and satisfying, and by doing so, will I sleep better at night and wake up rested and energized for a change?

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