Cleaning My Drawers

I was reminded of two very important things

Since we moved to Virginia several years ago, we haven’t fully organized what we unpacked. While Ollie has been back at school, I’ve been blocking off a chunk of several hours a week in my calendar to organize a closet or a few drawers or cabinets around the house.

This week, I was organizing the drawers in my bedroom. I keep all meaningful things in our bedroom. Memories with Matt, modeling work and magazines I was in, cards, books, Ollie’s childhood bric-à-brac, family heirlooms.

This week’s project proved to be a worthy endeavor. Not only did I clean dust out of the drawers, I was also reminded of two very import things during this quieter (public-facing) season of my life:

-How far I/we have come

-Enduring love

Organizing all of my journals, pictures, love letters, old business cards, show tickets, books, and DIY art projects with Ollie, I was reminded that I have done so much in my life that I am proud of. While I’ve chosen to carve out some quietude to make room for family, rest, and things I love in this season, it is easy to forget all the identities and experiences I have collected along my life path. I am an accumulation of all the seasons of my life. This gives me the grace to rest in seasons when I need rest and trust (and have confidence) that I am everything I’ve done in my life—not “just” a full-time mom.

It is so easy to forgot how far we have come. And it can also be easy to forget the unique quality and art of our enduring love, if we’re lucky enough to have it. Both of these come with time, which I know you have also collected decades of, too.

Try this:

Clean a drawer this week, the one keeping the things you love. What are you reminded of when you go through all your memories?

I invite you to comment on this post with your experience and share it with someone you think it might resonate with.