Country Roads

For those who have their own desks at home or job, is your desk what you’d term as being a “disorderly” one or a “neat, orderly” one? Recently the editor of this paper shared that his desk always seems to be disorderly or cluttered. Well, I learned experts say a disorderly desk can foster creativity. Imagine that? As I sit here at my desk, I think it needs to be tidied up. Then again it is what I like to call my “nest.” It’s where I sit and peck away on my computer writing and creating. It’s where shelves are filled with sunglasses, notepads, keys, correction fluid, a box of printer ink cartridges, a book of my scribblings of poems and memories, a small tape measure, a bottle of glue and a roll of tape, just to name a few things. On the top shelf there is a container where all my receipts and canceled checks go. A replica of part of a Victorian room has an opening at its top that holds dozens of my pens and pencils, all ready to be put to use. In one pile on the side of my desk top are things that will soon require my attention and correspondence. A basket in front of the shelves has pockets where my little calculator, address book, address labels and business cards are stored. Tucked under part of my computer screen is a book where my hundreds of passwords are kept. On top of my desk are photos of my family, a crystal angel that was a gift from my hubby, an old glass Snow White doll my mother gave me years ago that she once cherished, a lamp and some record books. This all sounds like a mess, but I know where everything is and could find it in a moment’s notice.

There are various styles and types of desks. I guess you’d call mine a computer desk-cabinet. My mother-in-law had a beautiful antique wooden Secretary that when a lid was pulled down just right, a desk top was created. When the lid was closed all was covered away from view. Roll top desks were once popular. They had a top that could be rolled down to hide the clutter. I believe the most popular desk is now is called the “pedestal” desk, with drawers on both sides and a long drawer in the middle. It was often used by school teachers. My hubby has a pedestal desk but we won’t go into what his desk top looks like.

If awards were passed out for neat desks, I’m sure mine would never win. If there are others out there with cluttered desks, take heart. It is said Albert Einstein once stated, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then is an empty desk a sign?”