Haiku 2023–187

why do I need an

exercise drawer, when I don’t

do that anymore?

— —

I took… in theory… a day off on July 3rd to make Independence Day a four-day weekend. A bit of shopping at a department store resulted in my bringing home new shirts, but where to put them? While I’ve never been known to be a tidy person, my closet and dresser resided at a level of untidiness unusual even for me. The first thing on the agenda? Out with the old before putting away the new. Every piece of clothing and every place I stored said clothing came under scrutiny during this process resulting in an organizing project that lasted days. To be honest, I still have some parts of this project that have yet to be completed. One portion that I have completed, however, is the ‘exercise drawer’.My exercise drawer is a drawer in my dresser where I keep all manner of things used for athletic endeavors — workout shorts, workout shirts, t-shirts from races I’ve run, bicycle bibs, and a number of pieces of other equipment. This drawer contained so many items I couldn’t get it closed all the way which only accentuated the untidiness. Why so unkempt? Well, it seems that lots of items of clothing went in, but very few came out… mostly because my exercise endeavors had grown fewer and farther between. This resulted in a knock-on effect where many items in the drawer were now too small because they hadn’t been used… and I grew larger.

You could very easily read this haiku as a surrender, but it isn’t. I want to be that person — the person who exercises almost every single day, the person who can wear all those race t-shirts in the drawer again, the person who needs an exercise drawer. In some ways, the point of the haiku is to shame myself into being that person. While this may not be the best way to go about motivating oneself, it is where my mind is… and showing where my mind is is the whole point of the project.