As I have mentioned before I am not married and I have no children. I ask myself how do my friends who are married and have children manage to get through the day! I work a 40 hour a week job; it’s not rocket science but it pays the bills and has its own type of stresses. When I am not at work, I am living and breathing this webpage. Since I am either at work or sitting in front of this computer writing an article, updating the webpage, or reading to keep apprised of the world around me; I haven’t been able to keep up with the daily chores of my humble 500 square foot apartment.

Take a look at this place (or maybe not), it’s a mess! Thankfully when you first walk through the door, the immediate living area is okay. It does need a good dusting, there are craft items lying on my coffee table, and the tray that holds my mail is bulging with envelopes and advertisements.

The galley kitchen did have dishes piling in the sink but I broke down this morning and washed them. I even dried them and put them away; now that is a miracle! The trash definitely needs to be taken out, even by Oscar’s standards. The dining area (or craft/office area) has a pile of papers that would put the Tower of Babel to shame. All I have to do is decide whether to file them or shred them. How difficult is that?

Where to next? The bathroom?  Maybe it isn’t that bad, it just needs a good washing. The mirror has a little more toothpaste spots on it than I can normally stand. There are few too many tumbleweeds of my hair on the floor than I am willing to admit. Those dark circles under the bottles of shampoo and body wash need to be wiped away. Frankly, not as bad as I thought.

The bedroom is supposed to be the most sacred room of the apartment. How come I have clothes piled high on the cedar chest at the foot of my bed? I do have a hamper but for some reason airing the dirty laundry on the floor next to it seems to be the best place right now. The need to dust in the bedroom is a little more imperative than that in the front room.

I do have a couple of days off coming up. Hopefully I will be able to get some chores done but I did say that last week. Getting all this done is about setting the priorities of our lives. For me I have left all the chores undone for a while so I can fulfill my commitment to this webpage – the commitment to my heart. If those chores don’t get done, then they don’t get done.

I have found a new standard of setting my priorities. If by some unfathomable chance I am not here tomorrow and it is something that someone else can do then it can wait. Someone else can do the laundry, dusting, vacuuming, and sorting through papers. I am the only one with this voice that writes for all who wish to read about what I think and what I do.

Leave the dishes in the sink so you can go meet the friend who needs an ear to listen to the drama unfolding in their life because that friend will remember the kind heart over a clean kitchen any day. Leave the dusting until tomorrow and go to that little league game so you can shout at the top of your lungs to cheer your children on and maybe even embarrass them with your enthusiasm. They will be embarrassed now but in time their hearts will fill with joy when they remember the love behind that tired, screeching voice.

Leave that dirty laundry on the floor and go out and be who you are. Light your path with your love and passion because no one but you can do it the same way you can.