Bird by Bird
The laundry basket looks like one gigantic time-leeching entity. I think I even see tentacles. When my clean laundry is piled so high that it begins to creep out of the laundry room, it is time to call forth the wise words of author Anne Lamott. Lamott’s brother needed to write a report on birds and didn’t know where to start, Lamott’s father said, “Just write it bird by bird.”
In her book by the same title, Lamott advises readers to take really large tasks and break them down. She applies her mantra to writing, but it works for my laundry basket as well. I envision Anne Lamott shaking her head at my overflowing clothes, and without scolding, simply saying, “Kathy, just take it shirt by shirt.”
Life overflows too. The pile of bills and forms and PTA volunteer sheets that sits by my phone looms like an approaching storm. Sometimes I take the stack and put it in a kitchen cupboard so I can’t feel its damp discord. It is easier to avoid laundry or bills than say, raising a teen or arranging summer schedules. But eventually big tasks must be tackled.
Instead of pulling up to Wal-Mart and audibly groaning as I envision the next hour I’ll spend dropping everything from cilantro (that the cashier doesn’t know how to ring up) to baby wipes into my cart, I think of the task in smaller quantities. I reduce the acres of Super Wal-Mart to individual aisles. I stop picturing the mega store as a parasite, sucking my precious day away. I get through the drudgery, row by row and cracker by carrot.
The enormity of our days can bury us, if we let the pile win. Just this morning at Starbucks I heard a woman sharing her pile with the barista, “I’ve already been to one school meeting and now I have to go back to another. Then I have to take my mother to the doctor and get my kids to three different activities after school.” Her tasks ganged up on her like a basket of angry squirrels. Independently each task is no big deal, kind of fuzzy and cute. She had 24 hours today and it sounded like all stuff would fit in. But she let the squirrels bare their tiny teeth.
At this moment there are probably about 124 tasks I could be doing. If I wrote them all down, I’d probably change my mind about being an adult and watch reruns of “The Golden Girls”. I’ve stopped trying to conquer my huge piles and endless lists. It feels better to hold small, soft tasks in my hands, knowing they can’t bite.
15 Responses to “Bird by Bird”
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June 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Hi! I just found your blog and really am enjoying reading it.
You are so right, piles can be so intimidating. But if you just start, just say you will take care of a just a few parts of the pile, soon enough, the pile disappeared. And the task isn’t usually as momentous as it originally seemed.
On another note, I do have to comment on your byline “No one likes it, but everyone does it”. My MIL actually is one of those people who LOVES doing laundry. Strange, but very true! Of course, she enjoys cleaning and organizing pretty much anything, so if you knew her, it would not be surprising.
Take care!
June 4th, 2008 at 8:42 am
That really is the only way to accomplish anything. Bit by bit. I’ve been sorting through the monstrous stack of paperwork that lives in the cabinet above my ‘desk’ in the kitchen. First, I pulled out all the kids’ artwork, and dealt with that. Then the catalogs and junk mail. Then the bills. It’s working, the pile is dwindling. Next! The laundry! After I sort it by color first.
June 4th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Hey Kathy! Breaking down the task. I agree wholeheartedly with that tack (or is it tact?). Trouble is I often dive into the middle of a biggie and word my way out from the center! So, it’s still a messy process.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I love this…Thank you! I often feel extremely overwhelmed. It helps me to think of myself as a juggler. If I drop a ball it won’t break like an egg, but it will bounce up again so I can juggle some more.
June 4th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Amen sistah! Great post.
June 5th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Great post, Kathy! Indeed, we need to break tasks down to make things do-able. After reading your post, I’m rolling up my sleeves. I’m ready! Thanks!
June 6th, 2008 at 9:17 am
YOU GO MAMA! Amen to this post!! We do need to break things down to make our lives livable and doable!
Thank you for the reminder!
-Audrey
June 17th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Yes my “pile” does often overwhelm me! But you are right we need a strategy so we don’t feel so overwhelmed!
Thanks for the reminder!
June 18th, 2008 at 12:23 am
As a person who adored the book “Bird by Bird”, I wonder why I don’t take this lesson to heart more often. Good post.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:00 pm
What a fantastic reminder–advice I needed today!
(I have laundry and writing to do but now that the baby is down for a nap, I am not being a grown-up…I’m bloghopping!)
Time to go fold one shirt and write one page–before I have to chase one baby again! Thanks!
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Picking your battles is the task of a true mother!
September 19th, 2008 at 1:25 am
Hi, I found your blog on this new directory of WordPress Blogs at blackhatbootcamp.com/listofwordpressblogs. I dont know how your blog came up, must have been a typo, i duno. Anyways, I just clicked it and here I am. Your blog looks good. Have a nice day. James.
October 18th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
[…] “Lessons From the Laundry” Humorously reminded me of the little bites of progress when she wrote: The laundry basket looks like one gigantic time-leeching entity. I think I even see tentacles. When my clean laundry is piled so high that it begins to creep out of the laundry room, it is time to call forth the wise words of author Anne Lamott. Lamott’s brother needed to write a report on birds and didn’t know where to start, Lamott’s father said, “Just write it bird by bird.” … […]
October 19th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I heard someone say “you can do anything for 15 minutes”. So, even if you just spend 15 doing a task, it’s amazing what you can accomplish at the end of the day. I should go spend 15 minutes with my laundry. I already feel too intimate with my laundry. I think I spend more time with it than I do with my hubby. Laundry is my ENDLESS, most hated task.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
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