Snooze Button

The wind blew something in that morning. It was a sense of purpose, I believe. But believing had become something that people didn’t do anymore. So I’ll just declare it: It was a sense of purpose that blew in with the wind.

I laid in bed for just a few minutes, but then swung my legs out from under the covers and onto the floor. It was still dark outside but with a glow from distant porch lights that were absorbed by the low clouds and reflected by the blowing snow. I made my way down to the coffee pot with the cat leading the way down the stairs. He was expecting his morning treats and a stroke of this head. He knew something was afoot, and had a hop to his step.

We walked around the house, the cat and I, and started working. But it wasn’t truly working. I tightened a screw here, hammered in a loose nail there. I picked up dirty clothes from the floor of the laundry room and placed them into the hamper. I scraped off some dirty plates and put them in the washer. I wiped off countertops and swept the floors. I hung up coats and hats that had been draped over chairs.

Once my physical space was tidied, I worked on my mind. I put away loose thoughts and swept away the remnants of the past month. I reorganized my priorities and put them in order. I wiped away apprehension from my workbench and finished up some ideas I had thought about in the Fall. I decluttered all the nooks and crannies of my mind, especially all the places where I had shoved the thoughts of undesirable, yet necessary tasks required of life.

The alarm went off and I hit snooze again, slowly realizing that it was all just a dream. I hadn’t organized the house. I hadn’t decluttered my thoughts. The wind was howling outside, but no purpose had blown in, only tumbleweeds of doubt and hesitation. It was such a sweet dream, though. How hard could it be to do it all again?

I swung my legs out from under the covers and stood up. The cat lead me down the stairs for his morning treats and a pat on the head. I began again, clearing the countertops and loading the dishwasher; picking up clothes and organizing my thoughts. I moved with a purpose, just like in my dream. The alarm went off and I hit the snooze button one last time.