You'd think this would be a no-brainer. I found an old popcorn tin (ugly as sin) in the garage and all it contained was some green Christmas garland and another momento of my childhood - a little Snoopy cut-out. He's wearing a Santa hat and holding a Christmas ornament in his mouth. It used to go up every year in the childhood bedroom I shared with my oldest brother, Ryan. I don't remember who gave it to me or why I held onto it year after year. I think it was just because it was cute. And I used to like to draw Snoopy.
I actually made myself throw Snoopy in the trash last night. But I kept the popcorn tin. I started to think, "I'll just take that to school and use the garland to decorate my classroom." But I forgot to take it this morning and now I look at it and realize it just needs to go into the trash. My classroom is already cluttered enough - eventually I will have to clean it out too! Why shift junk from home to work?
But here's why an ugly popcorn tin hangs around for ten years or more: "I might find a use for that some day." And every once in a great while, I actually find a use for something that has been sitting unused for years - but it's usually some leftover piece of wood and it certainly doesn't happen often enough to justify hanging on to so much stuff. I don't have time or space enough to consider how I might make use of something "some day" anymore.
P.S. Speaking of Snoopy... If you know Ida (age 7), you might appreciate this observation. Apparently his teacher recently showed his class one of the Charlie Brown videos and, in listening to Charlie Brown speak, got tickled and started laughing because (she later explained to my wife) she could swear it was Ida's voice coming out of Charlie Brown. We watched the Thanksgiving special together a couple of days later and, sure enough, she was right! Go to http://www.wavplanet.com/wavs.php?cat=2&subcat=250 and listen to "I can't go to school in my underwear!" It IS Ida.
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