Defragging

There is a process in Microsoft Windows (probably in other computer systems as well) called defragmentation in which extra space is freed up on a disk by moving all of the little pieces of files closer together. It's always seemed to me like people need defragging as well.

The condition of contemporary life is often fragmented. We put pieces of ourselves into our work, pieces into our families, pieces into our friends, pieces into our church, pieces into our interests, and pretty soon we feel like there's no room left on the disk. We're like Bilbo Baggins (to shift metaphors for a moment): "Thin, like butter spread over too much bread."

Sometimes the answer is to start deleting files. Sometimes we really are trying to stuff too much into one life. That's not always the case, however. Sometimes we just need to bring all those pieces of ourselves closer together. We need to be ourselves, our whole selves, no matter where we are or what we are doing.

My thought for the day.