Faith Venture

Every morning Archie Goodwin would rise, get dressed and come downstairs in the old brownstone. After breakfast served by master chef Fritz, he’d go to the first floor office he shared with famed detective Nero Wolfe. He would dust the furniture and book shelves, organize the files and desks, and prepare for another day.

That’s a description generalized from the series of detective novels written by Rex Stout featuring the genius detective who weighed 1/7 of a ton (not so much by today’s standards) and favored yellow shirts.

The image of organizing and cleaning the office before sitting down to work has intrigued me ever since I read the first novel more than 15 years ago. Do I do that? No. I just sit (or stand at my standing desk) and start reading or writing.

Usually after a business trip, I’ve dumped a week’s worth of press kits and books on my desk. And there they stay. A reminder of the organization that my mind needs in order to focus.

Jon Swanson wrote a post this week, “The Messy Office is Just a Symptom.” I don’t know Jon, but I feel like he’s a friend after reading his various blogs and books for several years. He’s another one of the people that I should try to meet for breakfast when I’m making one of my trips through northern Indiana on my way to Chicago. Anyway, his meditation on messy offices stuck with me.

But he is right. A messy office is just a symptom of a messy mind. And a messy life. When I catch my winter cold (from which I’ve just recovered–almost made it through the winter), it’s usually because I’ve allowed my life to get out of order. If that continues enough, then my body sends a message. Usually in the form of some sort of illness that forces me to slow down.

Quite a few readers of this blog are journalists–personal friends. Often journalists, especially if they come from a newspaper background, have extremely messy desks. Papers and notes piled up everywhere. My dad was that way even though he was an accountant–and they are supposed to be anal about order. Anyway, just wondering how order and disorder affect you. Do you find when you’re organized, it’s easier to sit down and meditate and pray? I do.

This entry was posted on March 8, 2013 at 7:25 am and is filed under Disciplines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.