The dreaded drawer you pray never gets opened in front of visitors to your home. The dump drawer that you pray has room to hold another random object when you are hastily trying to clear the counter with no time to figure out where to really categorize an object's belonging. Questionable items heaped by a tribe of people linger around for future tackling or forgetting.
I have a couple. One is a kitchen counter drawer and the other is my nightstand drawer.
I've actually taken flak for mine being too organized to be labeled a junk drawer.
My husband calls me the organized junk dealer!
It's scary, vulnerable to let others see our "stuff." We're afraid the unsorted tangled cords, batteries of multiple sizes, glue, flashlights, scissors, and coupons... all represent our life in whole somehow. We're afraid we might reveal we don't have it all together even though it's definitely all together in this drawer. We know others have messes in life, but unless they've shared their junk, we cling to perpetuating the mirage between us that we all have life well-organized and under good control. P-l-l-lease, this is no secret! We all know that you and I have collected a bit of life's junk; we're just not sure what drawer, closet, or room you store yours in. It's funny how sharing our mess actually brings us a heart beat closer. It draws us closer like a shared secret, a surrender to see the real stuff in another's life. Knowing the vulnerability it takes to share our messes, I count it an honor and privilege when someone is willing to open their drawers and live vulnerably exposed. It seems to validate my struggles and set us on common ground to share and encourage.
Some junk takes up too much space in the drawer. You know those things that you are constantly pushing and posing a certain way just to get the drawer to fully close. Who needs the entire baseball size wad of rubber bands? There are big and bulky things that steal the space in our hearts and minds which were made to store things with far greater purposes. Even small and silly items can eek out needed energy and time. Who needs 5,000 paper clips that easily fall out of its container by every person that shuffles through the drawer. Some junk very easily undoes our emotions in seconds. You know those things that people wide-eye stare at you and whisper, "Wow, calm down!" like they have no idea how you could have gone from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds. The time it takes to reorganize and settle it back in its place is not worth your undoing; it's captivating your mind and heart. Why not deal with getting rid of the junk that hinders opening our drawer easily and concentrate on what's remaining, the needed best of life?
Some things are hidden deep in the drawer that need to be pitched. Mostly, we are happy these things stay lost under a pile of other rubble. But every once in a while, we find ourselves shock staring something in the face and asking, "Where in the world did that come from?" And we forgot it was stored deep within the depth of rubble hell, but here we are asking ourselves the same questions about it again as once before? We are flabbergasted that we would even put it in the drawer. We even claim that we didn't put that in there and look for another to blame for choosing to place it in our drawer. We may assume little current association with it, but its mere presence again shocks our emotions. We really just avoided working through our junk by throwing it deep back in our drawer. We have to deal with past junk cause its future impact is greater than we know.
There are questionable objects lingering in there for future tackling or forgetting. There's just too much in this drawer. Is this a "just in case" mindset? We may stock 50 pens and pencils that we will never use. There's some broken stuff in there you know! Some of those things don't even work! It's not easy getting rid of our broken history. Every once in a while, we try to organize these drawers, knowing full well we will do this again and again. Less doesn't seem like we will end up with more, but it's true. Old baggage and hurts might seem comfortable to hang out with because it's what we know, but we need to allow some things and patterns of behavior to be replaced so that we can keep and learn what's better, what's useful, what's valuable in life. When deciding what to keep in your life, don't create more sorrow by duplicating damage!
Let's face it, we all need that junk drawer, so let's just admit its there and load it well. Invite people into your real living in your real spaces. My aunt was worried I had major OCD issues upon seeing a picture of my junk drawer until she saw the a picture of my nightstand drawer. My mom said my junk drawer was a dream come true. Maybe she was talking about the organized one, but maybe she was talking about the more cluttered one. Whether our junk drawers are organized or not, they do contain our junk: miscellaneous, occasionally useful items. The value of this draw remains in its parallel to organizing and storing our life's junk. As junk dealers, we may need to spend a bit more effort deciding what we allow to take up space in our junk drawers.
 |
| My nightstand drawer isn't very deep to hold much, but it gathers those stretching sheets, glasses, earplugs, headphones. Other random items are thrown in because I may need them some day. |
I've actually taken flak for mine being too organized to be labeled a junk drawer.
My husband calls me the organized junk dealer!
 |
| My kitchen cabinet drawer impromptu pic. |
Most of us see this drawer as a necessary evil.
It's definitely necessary to scrutinize our junk heaps
once in a while, for there are few things our junk drawers
can teach us about what should be stored in our lives.
can teach us about what should be stored in our lives.
It's scary, vulnerable to let others see our "stuff." We're afraid the unsorted tangled cords, batteries of multiple sizes, glue, flashlights, scissors, and coupons... all represent our life in whole somehow. We're afraid we might reveal we don't have it all together even though it's definitely all together in this drawer. We know others have messes in life, but unless they've shared their junk, we cling to perpetuating the mirage between us that we all have life well-organized and under good control. P-l-l-lease, this is no secret! We all know that you and I have collected a bit of life's junk; we're just not sure what drawer, closet, or room you store yours in. It's funny how sharing our mess actually brings us a heart beat closer. It draws us closer like a shared secret, a surrender to see the real stuff in another's life. Knowing the vulnerability it takes to share our messes, I count it an honor and privilege when someone is willing to open their drawers and live vulnerably exposed. It seems to validate my struggles and set us on common ground to share and encourage.
 |
| Courtesy of Emily Ennis who was brave to share. |
Some junk takes up too much space in the drawer. You know those things that you are constantly pushing and posing a certain way just to get the drawer to fully close. Who needs the entire baseball size wad of rubber bands? There are big and bulky things that steal the space in our hearts and minds which were made to store things with far greater purposes. Even small and silly items can eek out needed energy and time. Who needs 5,000 paper clips that easily fall out of its container by every person that shuffles through the drawer. Some junk very easily undoes our emotions in seconds. You know those things that people wide-eye stare at you and whisper, "Wow, calm down!" like they have no idea how you could have gone from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds. The time it takes to reorganize and settle it back in its place is not worth your undoing; it's captivating your mind and heart. Why not deal with getting rid of the junk that hinders opening our drawer easily and concentrate on what's remaining, the needed best of life?
 |
| Courtesy of Sara Parvin who was brave to share |
Some things are hidden deep in the drawer that need to be pitched. Mostly, we are happy these things stay lost under a pile of other rubble. But every once in a while, we find ourselves shock staring something in the face and asking, "Where in the world did that come from?" And we forgot it was stored deep within the depth of rubble hell, but here we are asking ourselves the same questions about it again as once before? We are flabbergasted that we would even put it in the drawer. We even claim that we didn't put that in there and look for another to blame for choosing to place it in our drawer. We may assume little current association with it, but its mere presence again shocks our emotions. We really just avoided working through our junk by throwing it deep back in our drawer. We have to deal with past junk cause its future impact is greater than we know.
There are questionable objects lingering in there for future tackling or forgetting. There's just too much in this drawer. Is this a "just in case" mindset? We may stock 50 pens and pencils that we will never use. There's some broken stuff in there you know! Some of those things don't even work! It's not easy getting rid of our broken history. Every once in a while, we try to organize these drawers, knowing full well we will do this again and again. Less doesn't seem like we will end up with more, but it's true. Old baggage and hurts might seem comfortable to hang out with because it's what we know, but we need to allow some things and patterns of behavior to be replaced so that we can keep and learn what's better, what's useful, what's valuable in life. When deciding what to keep in your life, don't create more sorrow by duplicating damage!
My aunt pleaded the fifth in showing her drawer,
but you can see that I'm not the only organized junk dealer!
Let's face it, we all need that junk drawer, so let's just admit its there and load it well. Invite people into your real living in your real spaces. My aunt was worried I had major OCD issues upon seeing a picture of my junk drawer until she saw the a picture of my nightstand drawer. My mom said my junk drawer was a dream come true. Maybe she was talking about the organized one, but maybe she was talking about the more cluttered one. Whether our junk drawers are organized or not, they do contain our junk: miscellaneous, occasionally useful items. The value of this draw remains in its parallel to organizing and storing our life's junk. As junk dealers, we may need to spend a bit more effort deciding what we allow to take up space in our junk drawers.
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