random thoughts – Day 1,211 – (Tuesday) – desk jockey

The remote work desk jockey gig continues several days a week. Today saw some soul searching concerning the pencil holder on the desk. The container is a white enamel container with black trim and is part of a vintage set. When Mom gave it to me when I moved into my first apartment during divorce number one, she said it was the refrigerator food storage precursor to Tupperware.

Many moons ago, a long ago boyfriend helped me pack my kitchen stuff when we were moving in together. His packing style was to basically throw everything loose into a box without packing paper, without care, and the lid was never seen again. The glass globe on the lid of the much beloved and regularly used vintage percolator was also smashed during the same move. It’s tough when the boyfriend helper causes destruction. In retrospect, it was a sign of things to come, but that is another story for another day.

So many pens.

Now, the container with no lid serves as a desktop pen-pencil-catchall container. It was chosen because the office space adjoins the kitchen and it was sitting on a shelf doing nothing so it made sense. In the past three years, it’s gotten a bit out of control. 

Recently, the enamel holder thing has become crammed with pens I don’t use, the few versions of the pen I like, more highlighters than are needed on a regular day, corrector tape, business cards, random scraps of paper, and sticky notes. 

Today, there was a tiny reckoning and mini Marie Kondo moment. The pens I don’t like, the ones that do not “bring me joy” and just annoy me when digging around for the one style of pen I like, were removed. Why paw through a mess of pens to get to the one I like? That’s just craziness. Why rummage though highlighters that are rarely used? 

The pens weren’t fully Marie Kondo’d – they were relocated to the junk drawer, which gets junkier every month, but once it's pushed closed, it's really easy to ignore. The highlighters were put in one of the desk drawers and are quick to get to when needed and out of the way when not. Baby steps. Besides, what do I do with a bag full of pens? Throwing them in the trash feels wasteful. Anyone need a pen (or ten)?