My office at school is actually quite small. When I entered it this week I was struck by how much it resembled my bedroom as a teenager. Rather than clothes and vinyl records strewn all over, my office floor, what little of it there is to begin with, is covered in papers and books. My very large poster of Frida Kahlo is a mature substitute for the very provocative poster of Jim Morrison the lead singer of the Doors, that hung above my bed. In the poster Morrison (who went to UCLA by the way) is wearing exceptionally tight leather pants causing my mother to gasp every time she entered my room. At some point she would have enough and ground me until I straightened up the mess. Of course the solution to that was easy: stuff everything in my closet.
The crown jewel of my teen bedroom though was my bulletin board filled with souvenirs from my 16 year old life. Concert ticket halves, medals and ribbons, playbills, photos of friends, palm crosses, cards from my boyfriend, a pin that said “Fuck Authority” and other memorabilia. I still have the pin on my desk but have no idea where everything else is. My office also has a bulletin board filled with souvenirs. Cards from students; photos of friends, family, pets; colleagues past and present; one photo of a best friend who passed away well before her time; name tags on lanyards from various conference presentations and flyers from events produced with students. This bulletin board represents my academic years.
As I look around and move some folders off my chair I hear my mother’s voice grounding me until I clean this up. I think that my “other” life is as exciting, rebellious, fun, risky and real as my teenage life and I am using this room in the same manner I used my old bedroom…like a crash pad. My office has become a transitional space; connoting that in some respects I am separating from something here just as I was from my mother long ago when I provoked her.
Rather than stuff everything in a closet (basically my drawers and file cabinets are already full), I vow to come in one weekend and remove all but the most necessary objects. Make some space and see what may fill it. The hardest task will be deciding which souvenirs to keep. Of course my “F Authority” pin is the one non-negotiable.
How do you decide what souvenirs and tokens of your life to keep?
Some would say that’s what Tupperware is for…I say…the crap in the drawers goes and the board stays! And your heart will always be full.
Some would say that’s what Tupperware is for…I say…the crap in the drawers goes and the board stays! And your heart will always be full.
Oh Lyn, you are so adorable. One of the first things I did when I got to Paris was to visit Jim Morrison’s grave at the Pere Lachaise cemetery. We girls of the 1970’s drove our mothers crazy!
Oh Lyn, you are so adorable. One of the first things I did when I got to Paris was to visit Jim Morrison’s grave at the Pere Lachaise cemetery. We girls of the 1970’s drove our mothers crazy!
My minimalist tendencies dont allow me to keep much in the way of souvenirs or memorabilia. But I do have one drawer in my home filing cabinet where I file and keep items that are important to me. Samples of my son’s creative pursuits (he is only 13 so there is room for more), notes from my husband, etc. Jim Morrison !! The Lizard King changed my teen years! Loved his music, and his poetry! Still do! xxx
My studio is like your office,though it is fabrics,patterns,threads etc all over the place! It is SO difficult to decide what to keep ( leftovers from a big project often make something else),and there is a fine line between having inspirational things around me and too much clutter muddling my thoughts.As for souvenirs , making clothes and jewellery from pieces found on our travels are the best but I also have drawers full of things my sons have made/ given me and photos.I am always afraid that if I have a clear out I will regret it later,but an edit would be a good idea!
I’m doing the "Kon Mari" method of going through my stuff, but the sentimental things are to be done last. I’m not there yet. In her second book "Spark Joy", Marie Kondo says to hold the item up to your heart to see if it sparks joy. I did that for clothing, and it was fascinating how I either felt a drop in energy, a lift in energy, or just neutral. Sometimes the energy has gone out of the most sentimental item, a favorite blouse in this instance, and it’s time to pass it along. Many sentimental items go into boxes until I’m ready to deal with them. Photo albums, scrapbooks, collages. Sometimes at the moment of saving them they feel important, but next time I pull them months or years later, the magic is gone and it’s time to let them go.
I’m doing the "Kon Mari" method of going through my stuff, but the sentimental things are to be done last. I’m not there yet. In her second book "Spark Joy", Marie Kondo says to hold the item up to your heart to see if it sparks joy. I did that for clothing, and it was fascinating how I either felt a drop in energy, a lift in energy, or just neutral. Sometimes the energy has gone out of the most sentimental item, a favorite blouse in this instance, and it’s time to pass it along. Many sentimental items go into boxes until I’m ready to deal with them. Photo albums, scrapbooks, collages. Sometimes at the moment of saving them they feel important, but next time I pull them months or years later, the magic is gone and it’s time to let them go.
My sentimental items mean the world to me! Among those are photographs I have taken over the years which transport me right back to that delicious moment in time. I also have art work I doodled along with more proper creations. I don’t hang on to much else – no crush momentos from my teen years or anything as it all ceased in any meaning or reaction from me. Stuffed animals are a biggie as I used to luv them as a child and they now sit proudly, for instance, on a chair in my vanity and bring me joy! Books are another – I look at a big thick novel that I lost myself in and it immediately reminds me of such contented times spent immersed in it.
Luv your blog so much, Lyn! Come back to Toronto please.
My sentimental items mean the world to me! Among those are photographs I have taken over the years which transport me right back to that delicious moment in time. I also have art work I doodled along with more proper creations. I don’t hang on to much else – no crush momentos from my teen years or anything as it all ceased in any meaning or reaction from me. Stuffed animals are a biggie as I used to luv them as a child and they now sit proudly, for instance, on a chair in my vanity and bring me joy! Books are another – I look at a big thick novel that I lost myself in and it immediately reminds me of such contented times spent immersed in it.
Luv your blog so much, Lyn! Come back to Toronto please.
Luv the pic Calvin took of you by the way – the color contrasts are striking!
My husband had a good suggestion for when a beloved 20-year-old t-shirt of mine (from a short-lived skate clothing line) became truly unwearable – take a photo. Seems simple, but doing so let me get rid of it with minimal remorse.
My husband had a good suggestion for when a beloved 20-year-old t-shirt of mine (from a short-lived skate clothing line) became truly unwearable – take a photo. Seems simple, but doing so let me get rid of it with minimal remorse.
I save way too many things, although I am working on ways to be able to let go of stuff, such as photographing a piece of clothing I loved but can no longer wear, or donating books after I read them instead of keeping them. I had a bulletin board behind my desk where I kept cards given to me by students, photos, etc. but we just moved our faculty to a new building where there is no wall space in my area for the bulletin board, and I miss seeing my souvenirs every day.
I save way too many things, although I am working on ways to be able to let go of stuff, such as photographing a piece of clothing I loved but can no longer wear, or donating books after I read them instead of keeping them. I had a bulletin board behind my desk where I kept cards given to me by students, photos, etc. but we just moved our faculty to a new building where there is no wall space in my area for the bulletin board, and I miss seeing my souvenirs every day.