Each issue of Universal Citizen features a personal essay from editor, Casey Kane. Titled, aptly enough, 'Citizen', the following example is taken from the most recent issue of Universal Citizen, on sale now.

I was careful to mind my mother-in law's tradition of not throwing anything "out" on the first of the year, (somehow this brings bad luck) so everything that needed to go got thrown into the foyer and piled around the front door.

I've tried to do this clear-out thing before, and it's never worked. The prospect of letting go of everything that isn't serving some immediate purpose becomes too daunting, and I end up sitting in the middle of a room in my house, depressed and defeated. I throw the offending mess that I have created into a virginal corner, closet, or trunk and try to think up a good lie about what I've gotten done that day.

That didn't happen this time.

I had transformed into a cleaning maestro, a goddess of good housekeeping, rivalled only by Martha ( actually, she's a bit of a packrat, don't you think?). I was the Red Queen, declaring "off with their heads" and relegating my own possessions to the world of unwanted things, decisively and without guilt.

My belongings had become anonymous, and like people who have strokes and can't identify a common object, or an amnesiac who does not know his wife, I regarded my lifelong acquisitions and said "what is all of this?". No tingle of apprehension coming over me at the thought of what I was considering , I started a pile at one in the afternoon and did not stop until late that night.

If I could have made a bonfire I would have (No Bonfires can be added to the list of lesser-known drawbacks to apartment living, along with Bored Cats and Window Exteriors Impossible to Clean). As an alternative, most was thrown out the American way, down the trash chute, never to be useful again.I am usually not so bold, but I am older and more experienced than I was the last hundred times I tried this. I knew that it was an infraction balanced by a life of thrift shopping and leftover-eating, and a sacrifice move that would free up all my other pieces.

I've lived most of my life defined by my stuff. When I moved away from home at the age of eighteen, I had already developed a rep as a kooky hoarder with a fabulously idiosyncratic vintage wardrobe. I took almost everything with me to start a life, and eight years later have found my life exceeding the boundaries I had set for myself with worldly goods. I was afraid that if I got rid of things, my personality would follow. I am happy to report that this did not occur. I apparently no longer need totems the way I used to. Now I have interests beyond the art of being a curiosity, and a lot less to clean.

Freed from the constraints of clutter and accumulation, I have been able to concentrate my efforts on interests beyond myself. Working on U.C. has exposed me to people and viewpoints I would not have encountered otherwise, and given me much to do in the time and placid environment I have created in the wake of the junk I threw away. I highly recommend trying this at home. If you see some errant clothing lying in a pile in your closet, and it doesn't fit , throw it away or give it to someone as fast as you are able. Get rid of old bottles of shampoo, tub cleaner, and salad dressing. Only cook as much as you can eat. Either fix the chair, or admit to yourself that you will never fix the chair and leave it in the trash room for some other fool to snag and set aside as a project. Read more, take dance classes, start your own magazine. Or contribute to one.

A large percentage of our material is submitted by "non-writers"; people who do not write professionally or in some cases have never written outside scholastically. I am extremely proud of the success of our first issue, and think this second missive is just as bound to please. We were bestowed with diverse contributions from talented people everywhere, and can only assume that these will continue to come in to make this a unique and growing endeavor.So, whether you're sitting in your newly cleaned apartment, enjoying the placidity of your environment, or putting off cleaning the pigsty you live in, enjoy the zine.

See you next quarter.

This article appears in the second issue of Universal Citizen. This and other back issues are available from the address at the bottom of this page ($3 each).

Universal Citizen is published quarterly by Menace Publishing & Manufacture. We hope you enjoyed reading this excerpt, and we hope you consider buying a copy of the most recent issue or purchasing a subscription for yourself or a friend. We also encourage submissions and feedback.