"A Little OCD?"

            Sometimes, I pretend my quirks of organization keep our home running smoothly, but I suspect my husband and son view my penchant for orderliness as tremendously irksome. Right now, the kitchen desk sports hand sanitizer sprays lined in a militarily precise row. Next to them, a black box contains a pair of rubber gloves, three “back-up” face masks, and the four thick masks that we all prefer. Those masks, washed in hot water after every use, get rotated into the box to prevent us from overusing any one mask since they are identical. There’s been tons of joking that having the pandemic gave me a valid excuse for my love affair with bleach!

            This period of pause is the longest I’ve ever gone without working or being a caregiver. It allows me to indulge my need for tidiness. At the beginning of the year, we got rid of our ancient, heavy bedroom furniture and picked up something functional that feeds into my growing need for simple lines. Imagine my delight when I found wonderful fabric bins that fit our drawers perfectly. I Marie Kondo-ed everything! Folding clothes, once a ho-hum chore, now delights me. Everything has its place because there is a place for everything.

            

          I blissfully structure other things in my daily life. Do I hunt for keys? Never! My house keys reside in their own separate pouch that gets tucked into a zipped section of my purse. Naturally, I buy purses with similar features to keep searching for anything in my purse to a minimum. Other women do that, right?

            When I leave the house for the day, my routine never strays. I make certain my tote contains the necessary items for the day. Pens, journal, book, water, lunch. I check the bag twice before zipping it up and heading out the door. Before returning home at the end of each day, I repeat the process twice. I figure a little time with upfront coordination saves me time. If something gets left behind, that means trip backtracking. OCD, or efficient use of time? You decide.

             

Copyright 2020 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman 

I HAVE to have music to listen to as I clean and organize! How about you? Today I'm putting this on repeat!

 

 

             

 

 

“A Little OCD?”

            Sometimes, I pretend my quirks of organization keep our home running smoothly, but I suspect my husband and son view my penchant for orderliness as tremendously irksome. Right now, the kitchen desk sports hand sanitizer sprays lined in a militarily precise row. Next to them, a black box contains a pair of rubber gloves, three “back-up” face masks, and the four thick masks that we all prefer. Those masks, washed in hot water after every use, get rotated into the box to prevent us from overusing any one mask since they are identical. There’s been tons of joking that having a pandemic gives me a valid excuse for my love affair with bleach!

            This period of pause is the longest I’ve ever gone without working or being a caregiver. It allows me to indulge my need for tidiness. At the beginning of the year, we got rid of our ancient, heavy bedroom furniture and picked up something functional that feeds into my growing need for simple lines. Imagine my delight when I found wonderful fabric bins that fit our drawers perfectly. I Marie Kondo-ed everything! Folding clothes, once a ho-hum chore, now delights me. Everything has its place because there is a place for everything.

            

          I blissfully structure other things in my daily life. Do I hunt for keys? Never! My house keys reside in their own separate pouch that gets tucked into a zipped section of my purse. Naturally, I buy purses with similar features to keep searching for anything in my purse to a minimum. Other women do that, right?

            When I leave the house for the day, my routine never strays. I make certain my tote contains the necessary items for the day. Pens, journal, book, water, lunch. I check the bag twice before zipping it up and heading out the door. Before returning home at the end of each day, I repeat the process twice. I figure a little time with upfront coordination saves me time. If something gets left behind, that means trip backtracking. OCD, or efficient use of time? You decide.

             

Copyright Elizabeth Abrams Chapman 

 

 

             

 

 

"Haiku Experiment"

The Experiment    

distilling daily dreams—thoughts    

one drop at a time    

July 4    

Morning view outside    

velvet red upon green stalks    

symmetrical rose    

July 4    

Daily poetry    

huge mountains of words to climb    

an endless challenge    

July 13    

Twelve days of poems    

forcing creativity    

through the sieve of words    

July 14    

Impatience is gone    

vanishing within a smile    

the mood shifts again    

July 23    

Happiness and joy   

are acorns planted in fall    

and rooted in time    

July 27    

The poetry helps    

by healing my tattered soul    

bandaging worries    

August 2    

Plunge into a book    

evade all-consuming thoughts    

escape tomorrow    

August 3    

Night’s muffled sighs sound    

distant humming of autos    

gentle songs of sleep    

August 5    

Today’s words are forced    

curbed and restrained emotions    

cotton wraps my mind    

August 8    

Retreat into sleep    

play out other worlds and lives    

leave yourself behind    

August 8    

Hold onto sunshine    

gently cup it in your hands    

optimistic thoughts    

August 16    

Sleepy Saturday    

singing soft lullabies    

snoozing silently    

September 11    

Copyright 1999 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

For a six month period in 1999, I challenged myself to make my journal entries through some form of poetry. Often, the day's events seemed best expressed through haiku. These are just a few entries from my experiment.