An Empty Drawer

Spring is around the corner. It could be the warmer weather, or the extended hours of daylight, or the season of Lent that many of us celebrate, but something about this time of year moves us to want to clear the clutter from our lives. Spring is a season for purging, whether your clutter is physical or of a more spiritual nature. It’s just that time of year.

The other day, I tackled my bureau. Well, no, I didn’t physically take it down. But I faced the once-organized-but-totally-neglected mess in its drawers. I can’t remember the last time I put on a pair of pantyhose, yet I’d managed to stuff at least a dozen pairs into a shoebox-sized bin in the top drawer. Fashionable scarves that I haven’t worn once since this pandemic began were squished into a second bin. Socks and belts and random boxed jewelry filled in the spaces between the bins. And that was just the top drawer.

Everything came out of the drawers. I vacuumed them out and then neatly put back what I decided to keep. I could go into detail about how I made those choices, but that’s a subject for another day. And not the point I want to make today. Instead, what I found interesting, was that when I’d finished, more than half of the large, deep bottom drawer was empty. And my immediate impulse was to figure out what I should put in there. Surely I had other spaces that I could clean out and better organize, transferring some of their contents to this mostly empty drawer.

But I left it mostly empty, instead.

What was it about an empty drawer that made me uncomfortable or dissatisfied? Why do we always need to fill the empty spaces? I don’t think there’s an empty drawer or shelf anywhere in my house. Why is that? I saw an ad on tv the other day for a closet-design company. The poor people in the ad needed help because they had too much stuff and no where to put it, so the closet designers solved their problem by creating a wonderfully organized space for them. Now they had room for all their stuff. And more! How satisfying. But, I thought, what if they just got rid of some of their stuff instead? We’re so programmed to not consider that option. But, it is an option.

I wonder, if you and I looked around our homes today, would we find an empty drawer or shelf or cabinet or closet or tabletop? Or do we just spread our stuff into every available space, buying something because it will fill that one empty spot? How would you feel if you emptied one of these spaces and left it empty? Would it feel great, at first, but then feel like an itch that needed to be scratched? A void that needed to be filled? Why? I’m not trying to answer that question here. I just find the question very interesting.

You?

 

Christmas Is Coming…

It always feels more like Christmas when the first wrapped gifts show up under the tree. There are no ornaments on our tree right now — just lights and a few ropes of red beads — but the gifts say, Christmas is coming! It’ll be a strange holiday, as I’m sure many Hanukkah celebrations were this year, without the family gatherings. Hopefully, with everyone trying to be part of the solution, instead of part of the Covid problem, we’ll have opportunities to gather in the new year.

In the meantime, we try to carry on. For me, that includes meeting virtually with my local Poetry Circle every month via Zoom. Our December ‘monthly challenge’ was a French poetic form, called a Lai. It required us to write a nine-line poem with a certain rhyming scheme and syllable count. Trying to write in a form like this can feel restrictive. Words need to be chosen carefully and you can’t always write the complete sentence or the full description you wish to share. This makes me think of our experiences during the pandemic. We’re confined. Life feels restricted.

But then, writing within a poetic form can also force you to whittle down your words to the most important ones. No fluff. No excess. You get right to the heart of the matter. And that’s what all this social-distancing and lack of normalcy has done for so many of us this year. It’s made us reflect on what’s most important in our lives — and in the world. We’ve learned some things about ourselves. And we’ve learned to appreciate the little things.

My hope is that each of us takes this holiday or this end-of-year time as an opportunity to reflect and appreciate, and to choose what’s most important going forward.

FYI: Here’s my Lai poem:

Covid Christmas Eve

Carols playing low
Gift-wrap and a bow
Just right
Softly falling snow
Christmas lights aglow
Despite
How I hope you know
I’m missing you so
Tonight

Gratitude Spiral: Day 327

Today, I’m grateful for my kitchen mat.

I found this in a store one day when looking for a soft, cushiony mat to stand on while washing dishes in the kitchen sink. The words (when I take time to notice them) remind me to be thankful for simple things—like a soft mat to stand on. 🙂

What are you grateful for today?

Gratitude Spiral: Day 312

Today, I’m grateful for paper towels.

One of the many items missing from store shelves lately is paper towels. I’m not a heavy user — relying more on rags and cloth towels. But they do come in handy, and I’m not the only one living in my household. So, I buy them when we run out. Unless I can’t find any. My Dad called while he was shopping the other day to tell me he’d found some and asked if I wanted a six-pack. Yes, I did, as long as they were the select-a-size kind where you can use half a towel at a time. He assured me they were, but the ones he eventually gave me were not. I didn’t have the heart to point it out to him, so I’m stuck with a six-pack of paper towels that I’ll be ripping into smaller pieces until they’re gone. But I’m thankful to have them.

What are you grateful for today?

Gratitude Spiral: Day 112

Today, I’m grateful for all the little necessities that make a house a home.

I’ve got food and water. I’ve got clothes and blankets and a furnace to keep me warm. I’ve got a phone and a computer to keep in touch with family. I’ve got music to listen to, books to read, a to-do list to add to and subtract from. And my health, today. 🙂

What are you grateful for today?

Gratitude Spiral: Day 108

Today, I’m grateful for simplicity.

When the busy-ness of life gets blind-sided by a global pandemic, the simple things take on more importance and we allow ourselves to pause and appreciate them.

Be safe and be well. 🙂

What are you grateful for today?