Some thoughts on cleaning…
I recently discovered that the more spotless my house, the worser the day I’ve had. Let me tell you, tonight my house is spotless.

My friend told me today that the moment she finally sat down to work on her taxes, she got right back up and started organizing her basement. I can so relate. How can you start something big, before you’re feeling truly organized?

And lastly, as of late, (related I promise) I am completely, utterly in love with America’s Poet Laureate, Billy Collins. I heard him recite some poems on NPR a while back and it just made my day. Then Jim bought me a couple of his books and even a live reading CD for Christmas, and it is stopping my whole crabby-end-of-the-day mood right in its tracks. And this, from the girl who really hates poetry.

So, as you are sifting through and cleaning out that mind of yours to set new intentions for the Big New Year that is upon us, I leave you with this gift–one of his poems called Advice to Writers. Though, I assure you, it applies to each of us in some way. Happy New Year my people!

Advice to Writers by Billy Collins

Even if it keeps you up all night,
wash down the walls and scrub the floor
of your study before composing a syllable.

Clean the place as if the Pope were on his way.
Spotlessness is the niece of inspiration.

The more you clean, the more brilliant
your writing will be, so do not hesitate to take
to the fields to scour the undersides
of rocks or swab in the dark forest
upper branches, nests full of eggs.

When you find your way back home
and stow the sponges and brushes under the sink,
you will behold in the light of dawn
the immaculate altar of your desk,
a clean surface in the middle of a clean world.

From a small vase, sparkling blue, lift
a yellow pencil, the sharpest of the bouquet,
and cover pages with tiny sentences
like long rows of devoted ants
that followed you in from the woods.