Urge to Purge

purge

verb

1.  to rid of impure or undesirable elements.

From Latin purgare, "cleanse, make clean; purify," especially of the body, "free from what is superfluous; remove, clear away."

I've been doing a lot of this lately.  Closets. Drawers.  Office.  Attic.  Garage.  
Countless -- yes, I've truly lost count -- trips to Goodwill.  (The Goodwill Guy said to me recently, "Is there anything left in your house?")

It's amazing how a person can accumulate so much STUFF.  Why do we think we need to keep things that serve no purpose?  Or maybe it's because we're busy people and we don't INTEND to keep it, we just don't have time  -- or take the time -- to sit down and sift through and throw out the crap.  And you gotta sift.  You really do.  Keepers are amid the crap.  Never throw out the Keepers.  

I came across a shoe box that was on top of one of the laundry room cabinets (why???  why there???) that had a bunch of my son's elementary school papers, drawings, notes from teachers.  Cracked me up ... and squeezed my heartstrings.  Keepers!

"Gavin feels the rules don't apply to him..."

That's my Gavin!

Oh.  This is "purge" in steno, by the way.  Yep.  Lots of extra letters, but that's how steno works.  (I love writing in code!  Nobody knows what I'm saying.  Unless you're a court reporter, of course.)

A friend once shared a snapshot of a license plate in NY

that read simply "fuck off" in steno.

But no one would have a clue that's what it said.

Too funny!  I wonder if that's taken in my state?

We court reporters love our code!

And so today is another day of purging.  Little piles at a time.  Whittling away at the excess.

REMOVE WHAT IS SUPERFLUOUS 

I've been collecting boxes a little at a time.  I have already taken out three or four boxes of stuff from my office, and I've filled countless garbage cans of CRAP from my office -- old files, correspondence, outdated supplies and equipment.  My last day as an official court reporter for my state is June 30th.  I'll take a couple of weeks off over the Fourth of July and then start my freelancing full time the middle of July.  I'm very excited about this new chapter.

This is a big year.  Lots of changes taking place.  I've been working very hard at preparing for this switch, official to freelance.  It's similar, but different.  I practice every day on my steno machine, perfecting my writing, memorizing phrases and shortcuts, working on increasing my speed, writing cleaner and more efficiently.  It's a process.  It never really stops.  It's what court reporters do, the ones who are most passionate about their profession.  We never stop learning.  There will always be room for improvement.  And the more skilled we become, the more lucrative our job opportunities.  Now that's a challenge worth my time! And that's my plan.  I'm in this deep.  

That R word?  Nah.  Retirement from my current employer after 34.5 years?  Yes.  But I have no plans of slowing down.  (Slowing down is written SLOUNG in steno by the way, one single stroke of the keys, BAM,  -- yep, I'm constantly thinking in steno.  I think I dream in steno!)   I've never been so passionate about my career as I have been these last several months.

Chapter Two awaits.