I am not prone to buying “stuff” to fill the surfaces in my home. I have friends who are truly gifted in finding the exact thing to carefully place atop a shelf, counter top or table that perfectly complements the room. I’d be lying if I said I was a minimalist, my surfaces are full of things collected from family and friends over the years. Admittedly I am a sentimental fool, attaching myself emotionally to the assorted items that others have gifted my with over the course of my lifetime. And, as I’m getting up into the second half of my first century, I’ve had a bunch of years to gather stuff.
The other day is was in TJMaxx looking for new kitchen towels when a couple of characters caught my eye. They were small, colorful and best of all, functional. I smiled as I picked them up and thought what a bright addition they would make to my kitchen counter. But, I really didn’t need them so put them back on the shelf and started to walk on. Then I stopped, doubled back and picked them up to check the price. I don’t remember the exact cost but it was less than a vente cup of coffee at Starbucks. So, what the heck, I put them in my cart.
When I got home I opened them up and filled them respectively with salt and pepper. They now sit happily on my kitchen counter while the boring Princess House shakers that we’d used for the past several years have been retired to the upper cabinet shelves.
Every time I see them I smile and that’s a gift I so need these days. While my own life continues with little drama, no so the world around me and it weighs heavily on me. Between the now too common school shootings, rude comments from people in the government and public sectors and daily revelations of sexual abuse, my hope in the future is getting shaky. So much of what is happening seems like deja vu.
I suppose that’s my age showing. I sometimes feel like we’ve been through all of this before and the collective “we” should have figured it out by now. Perhaps that is the greatest evidence of evil in the world; that we haven’t learned from history and we are destined to repeat it.
I’ve heard that the simple act of smiling can improve your mood. So, I will take all the opportunities to smile I can.