Celebrating the Half-Assed Effort

There is plenty that I could have written about here, since my last
entry...among other things, I taught three week-long songwriting
workshops, had a benefit for the Humane Association, went on a
horse pack trip in the San Juan Mountains, played to an enthralled,
sold-out theater crowd in Colorado, and an empty, disinterested
coffeehouse in Atlanta. There have been so many stories and
adventures that I don't even know where to begin. If I started
telling you about the horse trip, I would feel compelled to mention
that I rode a $60,000 Arabian named "Famous" who was somewhat
neurotic, and I might even attempt to explain how he got that way.
I would, no doubt, go into way too much detail, get bogged down,
and give up because I just don't have the time. Here's a picture
instead...it allegedly being worth a thousand words:



And that's exactly the point of this here ramble ... my "all or
nothing" attitude when it comes to just about everything...
housework, gardening, career...whatever. My office is more
than likely to be a complete disaster area, because if I actually
start to clean it, I'm liable to end up with all the furniture out
in the yard, drop cloths and dry wall mud scattered from one
end to the other, and me sitting in the corner reading each
book before I decide whether to deem it a keeper or a tosser.
So the more likely scenario is that I'll look at the stacks of
clutter and paperwork, ponder the quantities of drywall mud
that it's going to take to fix it, and then simply DO NOTHING.
I am thorough to the point of incapacitation.

So, this morning, I went completely against my nature and
emptied SOME of the dishes from the dishwasher, while I
waited for the kettle to boil. That's right. I left a full sink
of dirty dishes, and the entire upper rack of the dishwasher
untouched. It felt pretty good, actually. So maybe later I'll
walk through the kitchen and put away JUST the clean coffee
mugs. At this rate, I might even have the whole thing emptied
by the end of the day. Maybe I'll even [carefully!] open the scary
bathroom closet next time I'm in there and throw away ONE
abandoned hair product or a prescription from the 80's.
What the hell, I'm gonna empty half the trash as soon
as I finish this.

So today, I hope you'll join me in celebrating the Half-Assed
Effort. It is elegant in its simplicity, and dignified in its slow,
purposeful march toward perfection. I have so few chances
to be elegant and dignified, really. I'm going to try this
for a while.

half-heartedly yours, kathy