Monday, December 12, 2011

Cleaning up


In the movie 'Pursuit of happyness' Will Smith's character has these cute lines where he describes the different stages of his life. There is one where he says, for example, "This part of my life... this part right here? This part is called "being stupid." " I was just wondering what lines would I come up with. This part is called "having potential"... This part is called "wasting it"... 

The part right now, maybe 'Cleaning up'. The figurative meaning apart, the literal cleaning up I find takes a lot of time and is oddly therapeutic. There is something about bringing order from chaos, polishing something up, removing the dirt off of that old Chinese vase and seeing that delicate flower emerge in all its subtle beauty. 

I dust and sweep and mop and wash and I have this rerun in my head of life some twenty years ago when someone I know would do all this with a song on her lips. I know she doesn't clean up so much anymore, but I wonder if she sings as much.

I don't mind these physical activities since it oddly brings a forgotten tune back onto my lips.