When the end of the year comes, I am usually in my office finishing up projects. The calendars I make for family and friends take up much of that time, but there are other things as well. And, when we are cleaning the house, my office can sometimes become a place to put things that haven’t yet quite found their own home. All this chaos can mean that my desk ends up very cluttered and messy.

This past weekend I had visions of doing a very thorough cleaning of my office. I woke up on Saturday with some ambition to get things done. One of the prime things on my list was to get a mat for my hardwood floor to protect it from my desk chair. Just doing that required that I would have to clean the floor of the office. My wife had her own ambitions about cleaning out her pantries and doing some re-organizing. With this ambition in our hearts we set out to do great things.

As the day wore on, I did get the floor cleaned and the mat in place. My wife did an amazing job with her reorganization and cleaning as well. But when it came to my desk I stalled. This morning I am looking around at the remnants of the end of the year.

There are my hand-written notes about calendars still under my second monitor.

The new DVD burner I bought is still in its temporary spot taking up valuable real estate on my desk top

The book of quotes I used for my blog in 2014 is sitting next to the keyboard.

Items from around the house that didn’t have a home stand piled on the right side of the desk, begging to be put away

The last few Christmas cards from the box I bought are in a neat stack. Unsent because I ran out of people to send to.

The book I read and meant to review for my health blog is still next to my main monitor, waiting for its day in the sun so I can then loan it to my daughter to read.

There is even a check from a friend that I promised to deposit last week (I must remember to take it with me today).

In short, my desk is a mess.

But this blog post isn’t meant to just be about true confessions of Bobby-C’s messy office. As I was showering this morning after my workout I was thinking about what would make a good topic, and my messy desk came to mind. I’ve been struggling to decide what will be my topics for the new year. Part 0f the reason I stalled on Saturday was that I was thinking a lot about this blog, and also about my projects that I’ve set up for new year. As I was washing my hair I realized that I cannot start fresh for the new year until I close out what I did last year.

Part of that epiphany is quite literal. I honestly need to clean my desktop in order to make room for some new project items. But more importantly it is figurative. As I am looking forward to starting new ventures, I must first close out those things that are completed. I need to both mentally and physically put the final touches on things, and then put them in their final places of honor. Only then will I be able to truly start those fun things I have planned.

So, when I get home from work tonight, cleaning my desk will be much on my mind. I’ll focus on the physical side of the coin first. I’ll put away those things that need a home. Then I will mentally finish the process of closing out my completed projects. By this time tomorrow I plan to have a fresh slate in front of me, and a clearer mind on which to write my future.