Are there people who don’t have a junk drawer? I’m not one of them. I recently needed to clean out a side table because I was reorganizing--and cleansing—my home office and I found rolls and rolls of tape. Not like three or four rolls, but nine rolls of the same kind—shiny, transparent tape.
What does one woman need with nine rolls of tape?
As I redistributed my many rolls of tape to the family junk drawer and to my husband’s office supplies shelf, I started thinking that my tape collection might be a metaphor for something bigger. Life is messy and I spend a lot of my precious time and energy trying to hold it all together, cover the torn parts of my life with sticky and shiny efforts, and make everything—including myself—look wrapped up and pretty, all the time.
But the paper-thin veneer of life often rips, exposing what’s underneath. In the past, whenever that happened, I’d do my frantic best to cover it up. Putting on a happy face, stoically pulling on my big girl boots, even when I was hurting, wrapping up my disappointments and resentments in perfectionism so no one could see.
Right now, I’m making mistakes as I’m climbing the learning curve at a new job. Parenting is often hard, even though my kids are now semi-adults. Staying happily married while navigating life’s ups and downs is hard, too, but by keeping things smooth on the surface, we don’t get to the important stuff underneath.
More often than not, relationships and plans don’t look the way I want or expect them to. More often than not, I don’t either. Could that be the true gift underneath?
What does one woman need with nine rolls of tape?
As I redistributed my many rolls of tape to the family junk drawer and to my husband’s office supplies shelf, I started thinking that my tape collection might be a metaphor for something bigger. Life is messy and I spend a lot of my precious time and energy trying to hold it all together, cover the torn parts of my life with sticky and shiny efforts, and make everything—including myself—look wrapped up and pretty, all the time.
But the paper-thin veneer of life often rips, exposing what’s underneath. In the past, whenever that happened, I’d do my frantic best to cover it up. Putting on a happy face, stoically pulling on my big girl boots, even when I was hurting, wrapping up my disappointments and resentments in perfectionism so no one could see.
Right now, I’m making mistakes as I’m climbing the learning curve at a new job. Parenting is often hard, even though my kids are now semi-adults. Staying happily married while navigating life’s ups and downs is hard, too, but by keeping things smooth on the surface, we don’t get to the important stuff underneath.
More often than not, relationships and plans don’t look the way I want or expect them to. More often than not, I don’t either. Could that be the true gift underneath?
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
Leonard Cohen
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
Leonard Cohen
As my smart friend Christy Miller has said (on numerous occasions), “No one would like you if you were perfect, Kathleen.” So ... here I go, putting away the rolls and rolls of metaphorical tape to share the messy, wildly imperfect me underneath.
Here’s some homework for you: What do you collect, either intentionally or, even better, unintentionally? Take an inventory of your junk drawer, your closet, the garage, or under the bathroom sink. In the comments below, share your primary collection, whether it’s magazines, jewelry, pens, or something different, and we’ll figure out the connection between the object and what's keeping you stuck. I may have to ask a clarifying question or two, but we’ll unwrap your metaphor, together.
Here’s some homework for you: What do you collect, either intentionally or, even better, unintentionally? Take an inventory of your junk drawer, your closet, the garage, or under the bathroom sink. In the comments below, share your primary collection, whether it’s magazines, jewelry, pens, or something different, and we’ll figure out the connection between the object and what's keeping you stuck. I may have to ask a clarifying question or two, but we’ll unwrap your metaphor, together.
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