Pen to Paper

When we moved to Portland, the majority of our belongings sat in storage in Missouri for 5 long years. This summer we finally had our stuff brought to us by movers. There is all this stuff to go through, some of it trash, some of it treasures. Our garage is literally full of boxes. I went in there recently to find our Halloween stuff, but found myself sidetracked with looking for my old journals and poetry. I knew it had to be somewhere, so I searched and searched. One thing I know for sure, I really have to purge some of my stuff one way or another. The old magazines need to go. The files from nanny school need to go. The box of Duran Duran stuff that I have held onto since I was 14 just needs to go.

Video Link

I confess, I am a sentimental pack-rat. I keep things that help me remember things I've done and places I have been.  I have my very first airline ticket (TWA) when I went to London, England at the age of 18. Hell, I think I have just about every airline ticket I ever bought. lol I have posters from the bands I used to see at the Blue Note in Columbia, MO. I have license plates from various states I have lived in. I think one of the funniest things I still have is my phone book from when I moved to Portland the first time. Why do I have it? Did you ever see the movie "The Jerk"? For the very same reason Steve Martin's character saved his phone book....it was the very first time my name was published in any book. rofl

Video Link

I have every letter ever sent to me...even if I hate you now. I have books of matches from places I have been (remember when having business matches was as essential as business cards?) and various business cards. I have old Tylenol pill capsules with notes inside on tiny pieces of paper, candy bar and gum wrappers with letters written inside (love you, Shan, you were always so creative). I have hundreds of ticket stubs from all the movies I went to see. I have a Tank Girl trading card that I got at a sneak peek of the movie.

*Click on the photos to view a larger size.

I can not tell you how much fun it has been to see some of these things I haven't looked at in many years. I am, perhaps, sentimental to a fault. But all of these things tell a story of me. It is 43 years worth of my life. How do you sift through a life and cut certain parts out? Which parts do you keep and which parts do you let go of? Somehow I have to find it in me to actually do it so I can reduce the amount of stuff I have hanging about.

So back to those elusive journals and poetry. I did finally find them. Yay! But sometimes reading through them can be very depressing. Is it a rule that we only write in our journals and poetry when we are out of our mind miserable? Some of the most interesting bits to read now are the dreams I had that I wrote about in detail. Maybe for future journals I should stick to writing about dreams and not my feelings. lol And maybe I will even be brave enough to post some of my old poems on this blog at some point.

Last night I started a journal again just so I could remember what it was like to put pen to paper. It felt wonderful....like an old friend I just got in touch with again.  :)

Edited to add: My photos mysteriously disappeared along with text telling viewers they can click on the photos to see a bigger version. I have added the photos again and will see what happens. If they get removed again, I guess I will have to consider moving my blog.