Things we leave behind . . .

but still, never let go.

Spools of Thread © Kathryn LeRoy

Hello friends,

Every time I open a closet, pull out a drawer or walk into a closet, I see them. Those things I have left behind from another place, another time in my life, yet I hang onto them, just in case.

I stare at the skeins of yarn, embroidery thread, plastic containers full of ribbon, thread, wrapping paper, and googly eyes. Some I haven’t opened since placing them in the closet nearly twenty years ago. If you don’t count the time I needed a small piece of ribbon.

Why do we hang on to objects and past interests that no longer serve our time or spaces? When we cleaned my parent’s home, I found closets and drawers full of—stuff. What did I do? I brought much of it home, and now the past sits in my closet.

After all, it must have some value. I will admit that I did give much of it away, old buttons, sacks full of sewing supplies, lace, and more zippers than I could imagine sewing into anything.

Lest you get the idea that this phenomenon rests only with mothers, my dad was even worse. What can you do with six cans of rusty old nails, five hammers, ten screwdrivers, and stacks of old wood piled in an outbuilding?

He built three of those because he ran out of room in the garage.

Now I have over one hundred pieces of painted porcelain from an artist I have never met. Helen was a prolific artist and hundreds of porcelain bowls, pitchers, vases, and plates found a home after her passing. Knowing the care, patience, passion, and persistence she must have put into each piece leaves me in awe.

Helen’s Painted Porcelain © Kathryn LeRoy

Although I keep trying to become more of a minimalist, I continue to hold onto things. I don’t believe in throwing out everything, but instead, I’m attempting to bring more discernment into my keeping process.

My key question has become, “Can someone else use this now?”  If so, I should give the thing new life in others’ hands.

As easy as the question sounds, I’m still waffling over that box of thread that hasn’t seen a needle in probably seventy years.

Keeping those wooden spools is another story.

I discovered perspective changes everything in my response to the bird songs and my environment. My feathered friends remind me point of view is everything.

In What We Keep, Bill Shapiro, former Editor-in-Chief of Life magazine, and Naomi Wax interviewed over 150 people about an object with an emotional attachment they keep.

On this Earth Day, April 22, a few musical thoughts from Kenny Loggins’ “Conviction of the Heart” and Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi.”

One with the earth
With the sky
One with everything in life
I believe we'll survive
If we only try
—Guy Thomas / Kenny Loggins

Only the Knees Know © Kathryn LeRoy

Find a little wonder this week, keep, discard, or give away an item or two, or three, or maybe more.

With gratitude,

Kathryn

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