I want an orderly life.

There's nothing quite like a Ben Franklin variety store. Narrow aisle ways. Merchandise stacked to the ceiling. Not a place for someone with claustrophobia. Recently, I was in a Ben Franklin store. In Grand Marais. On the north shore of Lake Superior. It gave me a sense of how I've lived for too many years. Amidst clutter. Now, I'm changing my ways. Learning to live with the basic necessities of life. I don't need 100 sweaters. Or 5,000 books. Or 3,000 CDs. Or 200 birdhouses. I've been a collector. Of things. Strange, isn't it? I wonder if it's an illness. Anyway, if one has too much, it's a burden. Just keeping everything clean and in order. I want an orderly life. And I've concluded that's best accomplished with fewer and fewer material things. --Jim Broede