Cosmic character defect

Dear Ms. Universe,

Has anyone ever mentioned that you are way too patient? You don't seem to mind sending the same message over and over and over, whether we mere earthlings catch on or not. Have you considered stepping up to the One Swift Kick method of getting our attention?

I have these dreams where I'm packing for a trip, or for the moving van. I've been having them for about twenty years, so you would think the message would have sunk in! I'm packing and packing. No one is helping. Sometimes Jerry Garcia is asleep in the room, so I have to be quiet. Other times I'm moving in or out of a high-rise dormitory with Satanic elevators. We are late for the plane, but I just discovered the contents of many cupboards that still need packing. The moving van is crammed to capacity, but I am still worrying about the garden gnomes, whirligigs, and large blue-glazed Mexican pottery on the patio left by the previous owner. No one is helping. Duh.

I have too much stuff of both the physical and emotional varieties. I used to dream about the drawers for nails and bolts in old-timey hardware stores. The counselor who helped me find sanity and my self during my divorce explained that I was subconsciously trying to store all the emotional baggage. Don't even get me started on overhead storage bins!

That was ten years ago. You would think I would have all the previous owner's garden gnomes packed like sardines in brine and shipped on out of here. Maybe I do. Now I'm bogged down in an anti-creative swamp of my own making. I have too many drawers of collage materials (nicely sorted by color), and too many files of images for teaching (nicely alphabetized). It's all too jumbled to be fun or inspiring.

Friday I woke up after a bad packing dream filled with energy and purpose. The message of the universal ms. had clicked! If I had half as much stuff I would be twice as creative. If I had half of that, I would be even more so... less is more... Go forth and throw out stuff, just be sure to recycle whenever possible.