What’s in your Purse?

You can tell a lot about someone by what is in their purse. Not the planned contents like wallet, cell phone, and keys but the things that gather there along the way surreptitiously. Recently I was entering a government building here in our Nation’s Capital and as protocol slipped my bag into the x-ray machine. On the other side the guard retrieved it and rifled through it looking for something he found suspicious. After rummaging through plastic toads, receipts and coupons, barrettes and a plastic heart ring, a small bag of oyster crackers left over from a bowl of New England clam chowder, a ticket stub to the only Show I’ve been to in years, eye-drops and allergy meds, crayons and a super-ball, loose change and dinner mints, and more, the guard declared, “There’s too much shit in your purse”.

Yup. That pretty much sums it up. There is too much shit in my purse, proverbial and otherwise. My life is cluttered. Cluttered with a routine that is hard to keep up with and an activity schedule that leaves us spinning. Cluttered with stuff – toys that rarely get played with yet always seem to end up in the middle of the floor and clothes that keep arising from the good-will bag for a second chance. Cluttered with a To-do list that is becoming comical and no “honey”-to-do them. Cluttered with the things that interrupt any progress on the to-do list like: the dog jumping the fence and and all that it entails to spring him from the pound; the refrigerator/freezer deciding to quit on Memorial Day weekend and the subsequent struggle to get magic chef to honor their warranty; a rock cracking the windshield and negotiating insurance and replacement, etc, etc, etc. It’s enough to make a girl go mad! So, empty your purses Ladies!! Right now, dump them and simplify, simplify, simplify. We’ll feel better for it.

P.S. When I posted the guard’s comment on my facebook page I got such a resounding response from women friend’s who giggled in recognition, I just had to blog about this. One even suggested I start a Facebook Group. So, dump your purse, itemize and post your contents on “Too much Shit in your Purse” on Facebook Groups!