Why did I keep this?

I decided to go through the boxes at the top of my closet which went well for two reasons: I actually threw away assignments from high school and didn't fall off the latter. I fell off the latter the summer before my freshman year of college cleaning out the top of my closet. Knocked the wind right out of me and to this day I don't remember hitting the floor. Needless to say, my mom was mortified when she heard the crash and couldn't get in the room since I was blocking the door.

So, no falling. Always a good thing.

Now, as I sifted through my old essays, tests and worksheets, I kept asking myself why the hell I kept anything related to math or science. Chemistry. Algebra. Geometry. Gone. Except for this little flip-book I made for Professor Sales' class where a right angle triangle flipped into a rectangle. And in fairness to science, I did keep my marine biology report since the project holds terrifying memories for me. I'd had a stack of about thirty note cards detailing the lives of sea otters and whatnot when I like a nervous high school senior started bending my note cards. About five minutes into my speech the cards flew out of my hands, fanning up into the air before splattering onto the floor in front of me. And since I had this avoidance to anything relating to math and numbers, I'd forgotten to number my cards.

After about an excruciating minute of shuffling through my notes in front of about fifteen students and my teacher, I ditched the cards and kept going. It was jumbled in parts and I know I left out about half of the facts and trivia I'd wanted to present, but I learned two important lessons. Number your cards and never be a slave to your notes. Or in my present case where I'm re-reading the scenes from my novel, I shouldn't be afraid to cut or as Mr. Faulkner once said, kill your darlings.

And with that I will go and scratch out those filler sentences, paragraphs, and pages that clutter my writing.

Happy writing and weekend to all.