One thing that has been consuming exorbitant amounts of my time recently has been--dare I say it--cleaning. One thing about school is that it has a strange way of taking priority over various other important aspects of life, such as in terms of responsibility (I exclude taxes from this statement).

With the close of the semester, I worked hard to play catch-up on so much I'd put by the wayside, and am now more or less in the clear. And then it was time. Yes, time to start the dreaded spring cleaning. Sure, it's pretty late in the game if you're thinking in terms of the whole "spring" thing. Regardless, I've had to actually clean.

Cleaning itself is nothing new to me, at least in terms of the idea. I'm referring less to vacuuming, dusting, and all that, as I'm (gasp!) fairly good about that part. I mean cleaning in terms of sifting through the odds and ends I manage to collect over time.

Now, the Phil of the past, as it turns out, was extremely talented when it came to this whole sifting and cleaning process. Only it was not exactly cleaning, per se. It was more of a process of pulling all my junk, staring at it, sorting through it, and then reorganizing it and putting it all back. What really astounds me, looking back on it, is how I somehow managed to keep half the stuff and yet still make it all look nice and neat. It's astounding.

This time around, I had a new plan of attack, aiming to actually get rid of stuff this time. Thus far, I have emerged victorious. There is still more to come, but I feel I've made incredible progress.

One thing I find incredibly puzzling is exactly why I kept some of the things I did. Sure, there's a part of me that suffers from sentimentality, but some of it is extreme. I realized, this time around, that memories remain with or without some of the little reminders. And for much of the stuff I had accumulated, there are people out there who can actually use and enjoy the things that have been collecting dust. It's nice to reminisce, but I think it's even nicer to be able to brighten another's day.

As I continue to clean, I feel better all the time. I feel good knowing that some of my old stuff can be used again, though this time not by me. And as an added bonus, the space that's being freed up is most welcome. Ah, I could get used to this.