Spring Cleaning

It seems like I have been perpetually cleaning for the past 16 months since I moved into my place. At first it was getting rid of boxes and other odds and ends right after I moved in. Then it was getting rid of more boxes as I got some new furniture and various other new items for my living room and kitchen. Then it was the painstakingly slow process of dispensing with things that no longer possessed the look and feel that I was going for. Namely, the hodge-podge items had to go. I was trying to graduate from the sloppy bachelor pad, used, tattered and mis-matched furniture to something that expressed the new urban chic, uptown lifestyle that I called myself being thrust into when they handed me the keys to this place. Of course, I had to hand them my all of my money, but it was worth it, right?

Trying to maintain the swanky lounge/cool clothing store/speak-easy atmosphere is hard work. You see, those places are always very pure in their lines, very edgy in their music, very cool with their clientele. High top sneakers kicked off under the coffee table and sweat socks thrown to the side are not conducive to this aesthetic. Stacks of junkmail and bills lugged in from the mailbox each day and random receipts and scattered bits of lint from my pocket don't exactly add flavor either. On good days, when everything is clean I feel like a museum curator urging visitors not to touch or use anything. That's a nice thought when you have kids, albeit laughable. On bad days, I feel like poor old Sisiphys, pushing the rock up the hill, only to watch it roll back down and force me to begin again. Naturally, I try to level off somewhere near the middle, knocking off little chunks of the hill on the way up, and trying not to let things get out of hand.

My bedroom was the last frontier. I had grandiose ideas for this whole place, wanting to create this whole ultra cool sitting room before retiring to a plush, luxurious, dreamland, Four Seasons/Ritz Carlton, Prince Akeem of Zamunda type sleeping situation. Unfortunately, I ran out of money last year shortly after the Bed, Bath and Beyond bar stools were put into action. Luxury was put on hold, and trust me, there's nothing cute about a 6'7" brotha sleeping corner-to-corner on a full size bed with springs jabbing him in the ribs whenever her turns on his side. Patience has paid off, and thanks to a timely tax refund checkI was able to put that plan back into action.

You know how you show up at Thanksgiving dinner completely famished because you didn't want to eat anything all day so that you'd be able to have plenty of everything when you got there plus dessert? Well, that was me with the bedroom furniture. But really, its not as bad as you might think. I didn't get a dresser, with matching nightstands and a spectacular bed and a full length mirror or anything like that...yet. I did get out of the gate with eyes much bigger than my stomach perhaps, with this fabulous cal-king bed in my more likely queen-size room. I'll work it out. It's a nice problem to have.

But now the cleaning continues. I'm once again throwing away things that no longer work in this space. I'm looking for that perfect fung shui that will promote rest, relaxation, creativity and motivation. All of the clutter that I've got here now, is having just the opposite effect. I think i'm getting overwhelmed. But look at that wonderful bed calling my name. That makes it worth it. Let me try to be sensiible about this. I'll tackle it in much more digestible, more managebacle pieces. Today, I'll knock out the wall on the left, and tomorrow, I'll get the junk off my desk. Note to self, be sure not to put the mail on the desk tomorrow. Read it and get rid of it. Another note to self: double check to see that none of that mail is addressed to Sisiphys.