{still life}

The chaos has won. 

Every surface in our home pays homage to the abstract -- each a collection of a dozen objects, none of which has anything to do with another. Pistachio shells, cough drops, pampermint foot cream, packing tape. 

It's like a puzzle.

It's like a crime scene.

Candles and bills. Lipstick and nasal spray. Undelivered Christmas cards.

Sorry.

Perhaps now is a good time to admit it -- I picked a word for this year, a word I hoped would inspire me throughout the year:

expand

It made sense at the time. You know, expanding horizons and boundaries and various other vaguenesses. But it seems, so far, to have applied only to clutter. The stuff has expanded. My capacity to live with and put away all of the stuff has not expanded.

So, instead, 'expand' has been relegated to a word of the month, January. And for February, to hopefully take life back from the chaos, I'll be going with:

reduce