Clearing Out the Dross

Favorite things of this very moment (11:28 am CST):

• A great feeling of accomplishment because I've already got the dishwasher running, the table cleaned off, the catboxes cleaned, basement swept, and laundry running
• Feeling that JJ had a good time while he was here and knowing I did too
• Coffee (and having lots more if it too myself...he didn't drink nearly as much coffee as I expected)
• Having figured out what to get Joel for his birthday...oh yeah
• Christmas lights (even though I need to take them down soon...*sigh*)
• Knowing there is always another book to read

I decided I need to amend my book reading goal. It's not that I won't deal with those books, but rather that the rules need to change a bit. I am not going to promise or say I will read all of them. I will go through all of them, but I've come to the conclusion that if a book is making me miserable or it's boring me to an unhealthy extent or it's just bad (too graphic or simply poorly written) that I will find that book a new home. I'll give to someone who might actually enjoy it, donate it to the library, or I'll take it up to the Painted Pony and trade it in for a book that I actually want to read. We'll see how it goes. Whatever the case, I'm going to get through the full list.

This morning I started reading Shakespeare's' The Taming of the Shrew. I'm already a little uncertain of how I feel about it. This one is definitely one I'll finish, but I'm not sure I like the premise of the story. Lots of tricks, lots of money hungry buggers, and women being submissive (which I realize is biblically sound, but husbands aren't supposed to be like these guys as far as I can gather...hmph). All in all, it should prove to be an interesting read.

To my earlier comments about discarding what I can't find worthy...I'm going to be doing a lot more of this all year. I'll recycle and give away all that I can, but when something needs to be tossed in the trash, that will happen too. I've decided this year is about simplifying life and recharging. This also means cleaning away the layers of accumulating dust. I feel like I've been hoarding a lot of things that need to be let go of or given away and destroyed. It feels like the stuff and memories in my life have become too much. Just a lot of stuff. No real value.

Like I said, I plan to give away a lot of things this year. I'm pleased to say I already took a stack of old books that I couldn't give to the library or friends up to the Painted Pony. That was lovely. Traded a stack of books I defintely didn't need for a pair of books I really do want to read. A good trade I think.

Next to go will be the old clothes and stuff I never wear, and then we'll see where it goes. All I know is that when all this cleaning, clearing, and shuffling is over, I hope to have only stuff I actually see value in.

My Mom for years and years now has had an old notecard attatched to whatever calendar we're using in the kitchen and it contains the following quote:

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." -Henry David Thoreau

I'm going to follow Henry David Thoreau's advice to the letter.

You have a wonderful day.

Recycle

(Picture by Terrence Raper)

Favorite things of this very moment (11:57 am CST):

• Jingle Bell Java coffee with some eggnog
• Being handed a Snapple Raspberry Ice Tea (which is probably my favorite) by my younger brothers after they'd borrowed my car
• Having heard from Nikky this morning
• Good music shuffling through my iTunes
• Having a good conversation with Jordan echoing through my head and helping to clear the last of the shadows of the ache I was feeling last night slowly dissipate
• Christmas lights (they truly never get old)
• Sunshine
• The promise of some girl time with Heather later this evening

I was trying to come up with an appropriate response to a post Jordan had written earlier today, and I was reminded of something about myself. I am a recycler and a rescuer. I am a collector of the lost and a restorer of the forgotten.

Nikky can attest to my bizarre reuse of paper. I tend to write her letters on whatever I have at hand at the moment: napkins, scratch paper, old memos, Beef-A-Roo tray inserts, Alfanos place mats, and even Cheese Nips boxes. I believe everything has a use. I tend to use scraps of cloth to create new things. I am currently creating a creature that Nikky will eventually probably get to own (she often gets stuck with my more bizarre creations). It's made from old scraps of fleece that my mom used to make blankets. I once made an afghan for a friend that was made almost entirely of yarn my grandmother had given me. A huge blanket made of castaway colors. It is one of the strangest looking blankets in history, but he loves it.

I feel people should be looked at in the same way was the blankets I've made or the creature I'm creating: each piece of them tells a story, and they're always made from love. I don't create things because I hate them, I retrieve the bits and find ways to use them for something better. People are the same. There will never come a day when I find a person who is without a little sparkle and magic of their own. There is always something worth restoring. Something worth protecting and preserving. Something worth pursuing and nurturing.

We are all lost, but we are also all worth being recovered and restored. We are priceless like jewels. Each of us starts off as something rough and uncut, but we can be turned into something much more beautiful. Something more.

We are diamonds in the rough.