compart mental

If you know me at all, this will come as no surprise, but I thought it would be therapeutic, cathartic even, to get it off my chest cavity, clear my head, or purge it from my abdomen, as it were - that I tend to compartmentalize, categorize, and pigeonhole things.

My name is Sven, and I'm compartmental.

It isn't easy being compartmental. If anything is out of place, it's a problem, and let's face it, most things are out of place most of the time. And it isn't easy living with a person who is compartmental. They have to put everything IN something - a container, a category, a conceptual scheme, a taxonomy, a genus and species, an organizational chart, a box.

They (we) have a compulsion to sort things, organize big piles of stuff into several little piles of stuff, arranged by size, shape, color, texture, material, or other criteria, referably written down but always subject to change. Definitely subject to change. Otherwise, what would the terminally compartmental do when they feel the need to re-compartmentalize?

There is no cure, but there are measures that can be taken to live a full and productive life as a compartmental adult. First of all, embrace your compartmentality. Seek to understand, explore, and exploit your special gift. Compartmentalize EVERYTHING around you. Excel spreadsheets are very useful - all those rows and columns! Shelves are good, drawers are okay, shadowboxes can be wonderful. And be thankful that you're only compart mental and not complete mental.