My two cats ‘Formica Dinnette’ and ‘Tesla’ skulked around for the hour while their empty litter box sat in the sun, so when I brought it in I called, “OK, cats it’s celebration time” and they came running from their nesting places. Tesla was first to use the box, then Formica, then Tesla again, while Formica hovered until she could finish off the cycle. Then it was my turn to clean up.
Amy , who’s teaching me how to live peacefully with my computer and was at the minute converting my art and text into children’s books for Amazon, laughed. She has celebratory litter time at her house too with her several cats.
I told her, “Who would have thought elimination was so much fun!”
The first years of my adult life I owned a set of flat wear, two knives my high school clothes, a bed, a handful of books, and art supplies. Over a period of time kind people gave me a TV and a few pieces of furniture to fill the house I was buying but I gave almost all of it away because my parents rented their house furnished, so they brought everything they valued to my house. Their larger household overfilled my very small place, then things got very interesting.
Within a short time a lovely woman with a child moved in with us so we began stacking things on top of each other, in every room. Then my brother came (and my first husband’s family was kind enough to lend us a small travel trailer which became his bedroom) but there wasn’t enough storage for him in it so we stacked again.
Things were stacked to the ceiling in some places, shoulder high in most. To open my front door was to expose entrances into the two narrow canyons that wound through a forest of good stuff. One was to the kitchen the other to the two stuffed bedrooms and rest room. We always left the plastic couch and five chairs empty so we could entertain!
We’d moan and laugh before we unlocked the door every time we came home.
Over time Lupe and her child moved, Don went to Humbolt State, my parents came back and reclaimed their things and I had nothing left! What a joy! My house was practically empty.
Now I’ve accumulated things, especially for my Outsider Art, for which I create strange frames out of toys and oddities. If you’re curious see my book “Bearos” at Amazon. In the book are illustrations which each includes a piece of my art. Then across the book on the other open page is a photo of that particular piece of art itself. I do try to keep big quiet open places in my house because EMPTY physical space causes mental space for new ideas. I guess I do understand THE JOY OF ELIMINATION! nancymauerman.com
