This picture inspires me. You would think as obsessed as I am about organization that this would inspire me to go clean out my cluttered inbox and shred up all my junk mail, but that's not it. This is a picture from an exhibit I saw in DC a few years ago at the Freer Gallery called In The Beginning, The Bible Before the Year 1000. I was fascinated. I saw it three times and would see it again in a heartbeat.

The idea that these monks spent their lives copying the scriptures to pass on to future generations amazed me. So much so that I actually decided to give it a try. I spent my Thanksgiving vacation that year bent over a table intent on copying the book of James. I wanted to try it for myself and well, James is pretty short so I figured it was a good start. Now, I am not a neat writer, often my handwriting is atrocious. But I took my time, slowly penning each letter. It was a transforming way to go through the book. There was no skimming over words and no stopping to study or analyze a phrase. Just one letter, one word at a time, carefully and intently. The words truly just seeping in as I wrote.

In 1896 - 98 Solomon Shechter and Charles Taylor had the contents of the Cairo Genizah shipped to Cambridge to research. That's what is in this picture. When these early scribes made an error or typo in their printing they didn't drop the paper in the recycle bin, or put it in the shredder. They considered these writings to be sacred, therefore they had to be disposed of in an honorable way... which of course takes time. So, like I often do, they procrastined and put these mess-ups in a special room called a genizah. Eventually someone decided they didn't have time to deal with all this paperwork and they just sealed up the room. Centuries later along comes Schechter and Taylor discovering a treasure trove of history.

The exhibit itself was full of these little pieces of paper, written by men who were just a few generations away from Christ himself. But all these scrapes of paper in this picture... are mistakes. Around the next corner of the exhibit were finished books. Gold embossed, beautifully illustrated, perfectly printed and bound. Amazing. Inspiring. Gorgeous works. But the truth is, these scribes who created these awesome works, made a lot of mistakes in the process. (and thank heavens they didn't have a shredder!) I think that's good to know. For me at least. I certainly make a lot of mistakes in the process. Not every word printed will be perfect, not every drawing drawn, not every weaving woven, not every painting painted, not every project planned... I just need to keep going and learn in the process. Who knows, maybe someday, even my scrapes will inspire someone. As long as I don't shred it all in a fit of organization!