Recently, following a Sunday morning worship service I had lunch with one of my choir members.
Our topic of conversation was clutter. I lamented that pretty soon I was going to need a bigger house to hold all of my stuff. I don’t have all that much “useless” stuff, but I am what you call an “approximate” organizer.
In filing music for instance, Bach works anywhere in the Bs or near the front of the filing cabinet, Mozart just past the middle, and frequently used pieces piled in a chair in my office.
I organize my clothes in the same way. Clean ones on a hanger, in a drawer, or still in the dryer. Those worn once are draped across a chair. Dirty clothes go on the floor. Any floor. Works for me.
My friend however looked at me with a gleam in his eye. He has just organized his entire house.
One thousand pages of clipped and handwritten recipes bound and computer organized by category and sub-category.
Two hundred and fifty rolls of film organized in chronological order and identified. Negatives removed and catalogued in a fire safe. His entire record/tape/CD collection is also catalogued.
I began to feel ill. I have a dream that some day I will be this organized, but right now I simply can’t get around to it.
My dear Aunt Sue always could get around to it. She always carried a pocket full of wooden nickels with the letters “TUIT” on them.
These were her “round tuits” and she gave them to people when they said they couldn’t get something accomplished.
As I was pondering this article, I searched the web for TUITS and sure enough, there is a website for this “handy motivational tool.”
January is a time of new beginnings and a time that many of us try and chart a new course for the year. This course most often takes the form of resolutions written down on a piece of paper.
I want us all to do better than that. We need to dream. Following a dream can be exciting, scary, dangerous, exhilarating, daunting and any other adjective you can name. Some dreams only benefit an individual, while others affect the lives of many.
This month we celebrate the birthday of a man with a dream, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His dream dramatically changed the course of history for all people. Others have taken his dream to levels he probably did not even envision. Dreams like this do not fit on a sheet of paper.
This year I believe I will follow the spirit of my Aunt Sue and finally get TUIT. Dreams, like journeys, begin with but a single step.
While I admire my friend’s passion, I don’t think I have quite the energy to organize my entire household. I think I will start with a small “nap-sized” dream and organize my underwear and sock drawers.
Dr. Phillip E. Burgess is director of music ministries at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.