Yes, my job title is Organized Squirrel
Image by Carina Hofmeister from Pixabay
One day while channel-surfing, my husband paused on an interview that identified the person speaking with a job title that made us both say, “huh?” When I Googled, ‘crazy sounding job titles’ I was rewarded with a host of wizards, ninjas, princesses, instigators, alchemists, prophets, storytellers, warriors, and champions. If people could get their employer to grant them such titles, why couldn’t I give myself (as sole employee) my own strange, I mean intriguing, label?
So, why did I give myself the job title, Organized Squirrel? As someone who writes about organizing and productivity, why align myself with these fuzzy-tailed rodents who can’t seem to decide which way to run to get out of the road and away from oncoming cars?
A bit of background - years ago, I’d rented the Disney movie Up from Netflix (back when they sent out DVDs). I’m still not certain why my husband decided to watch the movie with me (he dislikes fiction), but he did. If you’re not familiar with the movie from 2009, Up is about a widower, Carl, who decides to follow his childhood dream to explore a place in South America called Paradise Falls by tying thousands of balloons to his house.
He’s inadvertently joined by a young boy who’s trying to earn his Wilderness Explorer badge for assisting an elderly person. When the house doesn’t land next to Paradise Falls, the duo starts pulling the floating house through the jungle. Here they encounter the guard dogs of the resident explorer, Charles F. Muntz, who has fitted his dogs with collars that translate their barks into words.
While speaking in menacing voices to Carl and the young boy, the dog’s get distracted and breakoff mid-sentence to say, “Squirrel!”
My husband broke out laughing and proclaimed, “That’s you!” When I’d get distracted, he’d call out, “Squirrel!” and for Christmas that year, my gifts were adorned with squirrels (blanket, pillow, mug, tee shirts, ice cube tray). Since then, I get something squirrel-themed from him every year.
So why, with this dubious source of inspiration, claim the title Organized Squirrel? Well, it turns out that squirrels symbolize planning (because they store food) and action (which, yes, needs to be reined in).
Organized Squirrel acknowledged the here-there-and-everywhere quality of my brain while delineating that this energy is organized.
Yes, I’m a writer, teacher, and professional organizer who has claimed her inner squirrel.
So, why did I give myself the job title, Organized Squirrel? As someone who writes about organizing and productivity, why align myself with these fuzzy-tailed rodents who can’t seem to decide which way to run to get out of the road and away from oncoming cars?
A bit of background - years ago, I’d rented the Disney movie Up from Netflix (back when they sent out DVDs). I’m still not certain why my husband decided to watch the movie with me (he dislikes fiction), but he did. If you’re not familiar with the movie from 2009, Up is about a widower, Carl, who decides to follow his childhood dream to explore a place in South America called Paradise Falls by tying thousands of balloons to his house.
He’s inadvertently joined by a young boy who’s trying to earn his Wilderness Explorer badge for assisting an elderly person. When the house doesn’t land next to Paradise Falls, the duo starts pulling the floating house through the jungle. Here they encounter the guard dogs of the resident explorer, Charles F. Muntz, who has fitted his dogs with collars that translate their barks into words.
While speaking in menacing voices to Carl and the young boy, the dog’s get distracted and breakoff mid-sentence to say, “Squirrel!”
My husband broke out laughing and proclaimed, “That’s you!” When I’d get distracted, he’d call out, “Squirrel!” and for Christmas that year, my gifts were adorned with squirrels (blanket, pillow, mug, tee shirts, ice cube tray). Since then, I get something squirrel-themed from him every year.
So why, with this dubious source of inspiration, claim the title Organized Squirrel? Well, it turns out that squirrels symbolize planning (because they store food) and action (which, yes, needs to be reined in).
Organized Squirrel acknowledged the here-there-and-everywhere quality of my brain while delineating that this energy is organized.
Yes, I’m a writer, teacher, and professional organizer who has claimed her inner squirrel.