Originally published on Milkweed Hill and Beyond.

This is often one of the first questions adult Americans ask each other when they are first introduced in a social setting. Maybe it’s the same in other countries, I don’t know. It’s an obvious enough question to ask, and I guess it’s a good way to get conversation going if you can’t think of anything else to say.

Maybe we think this is a way to get to know about someone else’s interests; that someone’s work or career can tell you a lot about who they are. Much of the time I don’t think this is true. While there are people who would gladly do the work they love for free (I used to feel this way about acting, and thank goodness I was willing to do it for free because who was going to pay me?) most people do the work they do because they need to make a living.

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Originally published on The Junk Pyramid.

I have a friend who reads The Junk Pyramid and is congratulatory to me on it. But I think she wonders why I am decluttering the locations that I am. When I cleaned off the top of my file cabinet in my Secret Closet, she sarcastically said something to the effect of, “Oh, that’s going to change your life.” It was less jerky than that, but had a similar sentiment.

This one’s for her.

Check. This. Out.: