My aunt gave me a nice stylish leather briefcase when I was a student 30 years ago. I thought it was a lovely gift, and I imagined myself carrying it into high-powered business meetings, courtrooms, etc., full of very important documents. I associated it with ambition and success.
 

Because it brought good memories to mind, I made the mistake of letting it sit around and turn into clutter. That style hasn’t been in fashion for a very long time, the leather is creased, the edges are frayed, and it just looks like (and totally is) junk! As for ambition, all the thoughts I once associated with the briefcase are outdated too. Like most people nowadays, I don’t have a job that involves carrying important papers. Documents get attached to emails, meetings take place by way of teleconferencing software, and so forth. I’ll probably buy a new modern briefcase at some point, when I see one that I like really well, but there’s certainly no hurry!

About Clutter Comedy: Every Sunday (which I envision as a day of rest after a productive week of de-cluttering) I post a Clutter Comedy article describing my most memorable clutter discovery of the week. Other bloggers who wish to join in are welcome—just post a link in the comments! There’s no need to publish any “before” photos of your clutter, if they are too embarrassing. The idea is simply to get motivated to clean it up, while having a bit of fun too!