Impartial and Fair...

I was asked if I was "impartial and fair" about fifty-six times during my time at jury duty. I'd like to think that I am. It would be ideal if I was. Every time someone asked if I was, I'd reluctantly say, "I suppose so." The nasty truth is... I'm not. I'm too rooted in my experiences, in my life and memories, and I have too many emotional connections to really be truly impartial and fair. I have favorites. I have strong dislikes. Conceptually I can separate myself, but at the very core of it, I still get my gut reactions and trust my intuition that's been cultivated by experience.

I guess that's why it's been difficult to muck out my proverbial stables and have a clean house. When I pick up an empty cardboard box, my mind doesn't say, "I don't need this. To the recycling bin you go." It instead says, "You need this. Cardboard boxes are useful. You could use this when you move, send something, or if you need a disposable surface when you're working on a messy project. Remember when you were a kid and didn't have a lot of money and had to transform cardboard boxes into treasure chests and cardboard castles? Remember that one time when you needed a box that was this size and you didn't have it because you threw it away? Keep the box for a rainy day."

When I'm doing a major overhaul, like I am in the midst of now, this kind of thinking gets kind of dangerous. It certainly prolongs the experience and makes it a most dreaded task.

At least I'm trying. Andrew's BIG SALE, as I'm calling it, will go live this afternoon at 2:00PM EST. The name isn't as profound as a "Soul Clearing Sale" but in truth, that's exactly what it is. You won't just be getting a ring or an old Avon bottle, you'll be getting a piece of me, my heart, my history, and everything that goes into what makes me just shy of being impartial and fair.

(OH! And if you blog, Twitter, Facebook, or promote the sale in some fashion, leave a comment and let me know and you will be greatly rewarded!)