Article August 8, 2011 ISSUE

An invitation to celebrate

By Sandra M. Justad

My desk was piled with accumulated bills and papers because my file drawers were too disorganized to use. It was an overwhelming sight. But a work colleague and I had recently sorted through the files in our office with amazing results, so I was encouraged to realize my files at home could be orderly, too.

Happily, I began to organize and weed out my papers. I was making good progress, when I came across a folder from college that reminded me of a time when I had been pretty smug and self-centered. In fact, I’d been so sure of myself that I hadn’t considered other people’s feelings. As I looked at the contents, the memory of things flippantly said and done years ago collided with my radically different approach to relationships now. The resulting discomfort was a severe mental jolt.

First appeared as a web original on May 16, 2006