There's a lot to be said for having a reason or a purpose to do things.
In our case, that drawer is a large house filled with 28+ years of life. Children growing up, leaving, coming back, leaving. Having to house B.I.L. (with his house load too wtf!) for the last 2 years, just as we retired - B.I.L. is a family member who's fallen on hard times. Looking forward to B.I.L. moving out very soon as we've managed to help him turn himself around enough. Down to him now though.
Before B.I.L. we'd started what we'd called a retirement declutter. We'll get back to that soon hopefully. Why?
Well partly as we don't want to spend our time constantly opening and closing that drawer leaving us with the same feelings of mild depression / frustration etc. Partly as there is stuff we want to find and use. But mostly as "Life's too short" and we don't know what's around the next corner.
And we don't want to leave our kids with a task of sorting out our shyte.
And for us that's a good reason and motivator to sort out that drawer.
Thank you for reading and for opening your own drawer to and its contents to me; family ebbs and flows, and the presence of B.I.L. in that orbit sounds complex.
Decluttering is absolutely connected to familial dynamics and self-care. In the right headspace, the drawer becomes less a chore and more a meditation on care, or even legacy.
🤣I have three of those drawers and they are all in the only desk in the house because there are no other drawers in this house. Each contains a certain classification of "stuff" and you can't mix one classification of stuff with the other because that is not how the drawers work🤣 Classic write up JC👊🎶
I have my dog tags close to my mechanical watch. Not in that drawer though.
The pair want to go together. To the living, I have always thought the mechanical watch a perfect memento mori. We know each other now -- so I will link the poem you might enjoy (I know, a substack sin: https://open.substack.com/pub/bitpunkfm/p/mechanical-memento-mori)
But when paired with dog tags, a stopped mechanical watch are even a more powerful symbol for the dead.
The best thing I can do to that drawer is just empty it into the bin :) but I like to torture myself by going through it.
1.) you never have to apologize for linking me to your work! We have an established relationship, I respect your art deeply, and I know you’d only share a piece relevant to the topic (which you did). Truly appreciate the share.
2.) yeah, really the whole purpose of this piece was how the longer I was cleaning That Drawer, the more it felt like the act of writing. The drawer was my collection of memories. Numerous but not particularly universal. But those images; the “trash” in that drawer don’t just get emptied into a bin by a writer because they are poetry. Every object is. When I found the watch and dog tags it’s akin to finding the central metaphor of a poem. The place where meaning radiates. But that’s only really powerful if you touch every thing in the drawer first.
Neha! As a writer heavily influenced by objectivism — a belief that the precise, objective image contains universal truths — this is about as kind a compliment as you could give. Thank you 🙏
Fun read! Not only do I have multiple That Drawers, I now have a stack of Those Photo Boxes. Not just my own, but those that I inherited from my parents. I'm in charge of sorting through them and getting them scanned. Daunting and vexacious.
This was such a quietly evocative read. I love how the drawer becomes a kind of living archive, holding layers of memory, usefulness, and forgetting all at once. It felt less about the objects themselves and more about how we carry fragments of past selves forward, even when we don’t know why. Beautifully written!!
Sometimes you have to clear the clutter to remember what matters. Your grandfather's watch waiting at the bottom like it knew you'd need to find it exactly when you did. Beautiful writing.
You had me hooked from the start. Love this one JC!
I think you would dig the Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard.
"In a house no space is too vast or too small to be filled by our thoughts and our reveries. Houses and rooms; cellars and attics; drawers, chests, and wardrobes; nests and shells; nooks and corners."
Thanks for checking in, Jess! Glad it reached you in the way it did.
& wow! This quote is the closest I’ve seen to my intention with this piece. And I love that it’s framed as “poetics” because to me, that’s exactly what it is.
Thought it would be the case, glad to hear this! :) have fun diving into it there are so many valuable insights and perspectives. I had a great time dissecting it when I was writing about what it feels like to get your forever home.
Love how this elevates the mundane chaos of junk drawers into something almost archeological. The moment when you find the watch and dog tags hits differently because it earns its weight, literally and figuratively, through all that cataloging of chip clips and dried beans. Had something similiar happen with an old watch I found buried under batteries and rubber bands, and the way time collapses when you hold something that belonged to somone else really does feel inevitable, like it was waiting.
A lot to love about this piece. The one thing that really stands out for me is how you connect with us the that drawer, that place that holds everything but we all avoid. I need to unpack my drawer(s) lol I feel like you start getting more of those around the house as time passes.
Hahaha, for sure, they definitely accumulate the longer you've been in a place. But it's cool because they become miniature time capsules, which is kind of what I was getting at here!
What drawer?! I have no idea what you're talking. It can't possibly be the one even my kids will throw random things in, like pencils and Jolly Ranchers
There's a lot to be said for having a reason or a purpose to do things.
In our case, that drawer is a large house filled with 28+ years of life. Children growing up, leaving, coming back, leaving. Having to house B.I.L. (with his house load too wtf!) for the last 2 years, just as we retired - B.I.L. is a family member who's fallen on hard times. Looking forward to B.I.L. moving out very soon as we've managed to help him turn himself around enough. Down to him now though.
Before B.I.L. we'd started what we'd called a retirement declutter. We'll get back to that soon hopefully. Why?
Well partly as we don't want to spend our time constantly opening and closing that drawer leaving us with the same feelings of mild depression / frustration etc. Partly as there is stuff we want to find and use. But mostly as "Life's too short" and we don't know what's around the next corner.
And we don't want to leave our kids with a task of sorting out our shyte.
And for us that's a good reason and motivator to sort out that drawer.
Thank you for reading and for opening your own drawer to and its contents to me; family ebbs and flows, and the presence of B.I.L. in that orbit sounds complex.
Decluttering is absolutely connected to familial dynamics and self-care. In the right headspace, the drawer becomes less a chore and more a meditation on care, or even legacy.
We’ve certainly found de cluttering to be therapeutic. Freeing.
I absolutely loved reading this, thank you for sharing!
🤣I have three of those drawers and they are all in the only desk in the house because there are no other drawers in this house. Each contains a certain classification of "stuff" and you can't mix one classification of stuff with the other because that is not how the drawers work🤣 Classic write up JC👊🎶
Thanks, Juno! At least there is some order in your personal chaos 🤣
I have my dog tags close to my mechanical watch. Not in that drawer though.
The pair want to go together. To the living, I have always thought the mechanical watch a perfect memento mori. We know each other now -- so I will link the poem you might enjoy (I know, a substack sin: https://open.substack.com/pub/bitpunkfm/p/mechanical-memento-mori)
But when paired with dog tags, a stopped mechanical watch are even a more powerful symbol for the dead.
The best thing I can do to that drawer is just empty it into the bin :) but I like to torture myself by going through it.
1.) you never have to apologize for linking me to your work! We have an established relationship, I respect your art deeply, and I know you’d only share a piece relevant to the topic (which you did). Truly appreciate the share.
2.) yeah, really the whole purpose of this piece was how the longer I was cleaning That Drawer, the more it felt like the act of writing. The drawer was my collection of memories. Numerous but not particularly universal. But those images; the “trash” in that drawer don’t just get emptied into a bin by a writer because they are poetry. Every object is. When I found the watch and dog tags it’s akin to finding the central metaphor of a poem. The place where meaning radiates. But that’s only really powerful if you touch every thing in the drawer first.
I won't name names, but I've been in houses where EVERY drawer is THAT drawer.
😂😂😂
See my later comment Jeff 😂
You have a way of making the ordinary sound magical. This was such a lovely read...
Neha! As a writer heavily influenced by objectivism — a belief that the precise, objective image contains universal truths — this is about as kind a compliment as you could give. Thank you 🙏
Fun read! Not only do I have multiple That Drawers, I now have a stack of Those Photo Boxes. Not just my own, but those that I inherited from my parents. I'm in charge of sorting through them and getting them scanned. Daunting and vexacious.
I recommend photographing your "That Drawers" and putting photos of them in Those Photo Boxes 😂
HiLARious!
This was such a quietly evocative read. I love how the drawer becomes a kind of living archive, holding layers of memory, usefulness, and forgetting all at once. It felt less about the objects themselves and more about how we carry fragments of past selves forward, even when we don’t know why. Beautifully written!!
Thank you, Jessica! That’s a kind take
Sometimes you have to clear the clutter to remember what matters. Your grandfather's watch waiting at the bottom like it knew you'd need to find it exactly when you did. Beautiful writing.
You had me hooked from the start. Love this one JC!
I think you would dig the Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard.
"In a house no space is too vast or too small to be filled by our thoughts and our reveries. Houses and rooms; cellars and attics; drawers, chests, and wardrobes; nests and shells; nooks and corners."
Thanks for checking in, Jess! Glad it reached you in the way it did.
& wow! This quote is the closest I’ve seen to my intention with this piece. And I love that it’s framed as “poetics” because to me, that’s exactly what it is.
Thought it would be the case, glad to hear this! :) have fun diving into it there are so many valuable insights and perspectives. I had a great time dissecting it when I was writing about what it feels like to get your forever home.
Loved this JC, a refreshing look beyond the poems!
Love how this elevates the mundane chaos of junk drawers into something almost archeological. The moment when you find the watch and dog tags hits differently because it earns its weight, literally and figuratively, through all that cataloging of chip clips and dried beans. Had something similiar happen with an old watch I found buried under batteries and rubber bands, and the way time collapses when you hold something that belonged to somone else really does feel inevitable, like it was waiting.
Thank you so much for the close reading and personal anecdote! Funny how often we stumble on our own buried treasure.
I wish I could post a picture. Excellent work 🫶🤣
Maybe I’ll share a note with a call for “That Drawer” photos 😂 thanks for reading, Kregg!
A lot to love about this piece. The one thing that really stands out for me is how you connect with us the that drawer, that place that holds everything but we all avoid. I need to unpack my drawer(s) lol I feel like you start getting more of those around the house as time passes.
Hahaha, for sure, they definitely accumulate the longer you've been in a place. But it's cool because they become miniature time capsules, which is kind of what I was getting at here!
Yes. I am the steward of “that drawer” (more like those drawers)in my house.
I read this 3 times, loved the visceral feeling it gave as you described the contents!
Thank you so much, Tracy! It’s a big responsibility — but a close reading of the drawer teaches you so much about writing and human memory.
What drawer?! I have no idea what you're talking. It can't possibly be the one even my kids will throw random things in, like pencils and Jolly Ranchers
Hahaha I can only imagine the havoc of a parent’s drawer. You are all saints