Clearing the clutter

A couple of Fridays ago Iain and Simon joined us from Cornwall and London to help clear out the loft, in preparation for some extra insulation. "Help" is actually an understatement since, by the time their father got home afer lunch, the job was completed and the dining room had a considerable amount of gear alongside the stuff still waiting to be brought up to the Erin Mae. It's amazing what a couple of healthy lads will do on the mere promise of some good food in the evening. Must have something to do with filial affection, I suppose (hope!). Now the only problem is what to do with the dining room.

I've spent quite a lot of the last 25 years helping students clear out clutter of another sort – patterns of thinking and acting that get in the way of effective working with other people. Same problem – what do you do with it all? Seeing the courage with which some of them face up to the issues has been, for me, both a reward and a challenge to continue the process with myself.

At the pub in the evening (the one with the reputation for the best fish in the area), the food was great. We all had something different, but the satisfied smiles at the end had a lot in common. It had been a good day.