Um, excuse me, but yes you do.

You may not be aware of them. You may not interact with them very intentionally. They may not support you as well as they could. They may not look like something out of a magazine or an office supply store. But you have them.

Unless you are a complete screw up – and I’m confident you’re the farthest thing from it – you have systems. You show up. Usually on time. You create. You put quality stuff out there. You delight far more often than you disappoint or annoy. You get things done.

It’s just a little more higgledy-piggledy than you would like.

(Okay, maybe a lot more higgledy-piggledy than you would like.)

Maybe you know it’s all taking more time than it should.
Or feeling more stressful.
Or keeping you from growing.

But, trust me, you already have systems.

And I can prove it by taking something away from you.

That Moleskine notebook you carry with you everywhere, for example.

Or your purse. Or an item in your purse. Let’s say it’s your keys.

Or your laptop. Or a program on your laptop. Or your internet connection.

I could enter your home at night like a gnome and move the coffee. Or rearrange your closets.

I could create a detour. Or shut down the bus.

Lost and discombobulated at the mere thought, aren’t you? Maybe even a little defensive?

It’s because I threatened to take away the systems you don’t even think you have or use.

If you’re getting that much from what you don’t acknowledge, just imagine what you could get from systems that you consciously and curiously explored and developed?

You have much more of a foundation than you think. Let’s meet under the skylight and build something fabulous on it.

No related posts.

A dishwasher is system. So is the way you like to load it.

Which is probably different from the systems preferred by other members of your household.  (Which may or may not be a point of contention.)

• • • • •

Related posts:

1. Cleaning my computer closets.
2. A Recreational System
3. A Construction System

So many systems in one photograph!

The street is part of a transportation system.
The drain: an element of the sewer system.

Each house is a collection of systems.

The tree is a system.
The stakes and ropes: a support system.
Its planting, the result of systems created by the tree’s Friends.
(This magnolia is going to be gorgeous!)

• • • • •

Related posts:

1. A Construction System
2. An Erosion System
3. A Storage System

A power system.
Also a security system.
Tangled up with more communication systems.

• • • • •

Related posts:

1. A Security System
2. An Emergency System
3. A System of Do’s and Don’ts

In this case, mostly don’ts. Another system of boundaries. And communication.

The signage itself is a system. Yet think of all the bureaucratic systems each one of those placards represents! I wonder how effective it all is…

• • • • •

Related posts:

1. A Power System
2. An Emergency System
3. A Boundary System

This is also a system of boundaries.

• • • • •

Related posts:

1. A Boundary System
2. A System of Do’s and Don’ts
3. An Erosion System

A fence is a system. And healthy boundaries are just that.

The moss is also a system. It looks pretty healthy too.

• • • • •

Related posts:

1. A Security System
2. A Healthcare System
3. A System of Do’s and Don’ts

Gorgeous. I see a humongous fish. What do you see?

• • • • •

Related posts:

1. A Planting System
2. A Recreational System
3. A Construction System

A system of lists. And also a nutritional system.

Side note: The headband was the reward for winning trivia night at our local pub (no small accomplishment, if I do say so myself). I’m certain Trivia Master Edward has his systems. But the headband has nothing to do with the System of Lists. This one belongs to my sweetheart. I don’t know why it remains on the refrigerator. Me, I keep mine handy to wear when I feel in need of a thinking cap.

• • • • •

Related posts:

1. A Planting System
2. Lists (but not to-do lists).
3. An Erosion System

A storage system.
And a nutritional system.
And a reproductive system.

• • • • •

Related posts:

1. A System of Lists
2. An Erosion System
3. An Orientation System