Definitions · Reference
What Closure Means
Closure, as we define it, is an administrative status change. It indicates that a file has been reviewed and that no further action, inquiry, investigation, correspondence, or thought is required or expected. The following is what closure is, and what it is not. We are specific about this because people frequently confuse the two.
What Closure Is
Closure is the act of moving a file from the open cabinet to the closed cabinet. The act is administrative. The stamp is real. The determination is issued on archival bond with a unique case number, the date of closure, and the phrase: "The matter is formally closed."
There is a difference between a thing that is unresolved and open, and a thing that is unresolved and closed. The difference is the stamp. The stamp is what we provide. The stamp is the entire service.
What Closure Is Not
"Letting go."
"Letting go" is a metaphor. We do not deal in metaphors. We deal in files. Letting go implies a change in your relationship to the matter. Closure implies a change in the file's status. These are different things. You may let go of a closed file. You may refuse to let go of a closed file. The file's status does not change either way. The file is closed.
Resolution.
Resolution requires an answer. Closure requires a stamp. These are different requirements. We provide the stamp. We do not provide answers. Answers require investigation, which requires investment, which implies we care about the outcome of your particular matter. We do not. We care about the file. The file is closed.
Acceptance.
You are not required to accept the outcome — or the absence of one — in order for the file to be closed. Your feelings about the matter are not part of the file. The file contains what you submitted. Your feelings were not submitted. If you would like your feelings documented, we recommend the Official Registry of Grudges.
Forgetting.
The file is not destroyed. It is moved. The contents remain exactly as submitted. Nothing is added. Nothing is redacted. Nothing fades. The file is in the closed cabinet, where it will remain. You will remember what you remember. The file is closed regardless.
Forgiveness.
We are a filing service. We do not forgive. We do not withhold forgiveness. Forgiveness is outside our scope. Our scope is the file. The file is closed.
Healing.
We are not a therapeutic service. We issue determinations. The relief some filers report following closure may resemble healing in its effects. We make no claim about its nature. We closed the file. What happens after the file is closed is outside our scope. Everything after the stamp is outside our scope.
The Reopening Question
Files may be reopened. We do not recommend it. To reopen a closed file, submit a Request for Reopening. The request must include the original case number, an explanation of why the matter requires renewed consideration, and an acknowledgment that the file was formally closed and that you are choosing to reopen a file that was formally closed. That acknowledgment is the most important part of the form. You will know, having submitted it, that you are reopening something that was closed. That knowledge has, in our experience, caused more people to close the form than submit it.
If you reopen a file and it is subsequently closed again, you receive a second determination. The second determination reads identically to the first. This is not an oversight.
The file is open. The stamp is ready.
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