Tag Archives: joy

In the struggle there is joy

Life, Things

At Andrew and Alex’s engagement party a few years ago they handed out small pieces of paper that had sayings on them — sort of like fortune cookie fortunes. We chose one without seeing the words. Mine was perfect and I suspect that it was written with me in mind. Alex seemed very happy that I received it.

It says:

“I know it’s nagging you, but you should finish that project you started. In the struggle there is joy.”

If you know me it won’t come as a surprise that the project mentioned in the fortune is still a work in progress — I’m still struggling to sort through all the bits and pieces of my mom’s life that I brought back to Bethesda.

I’m getting there — I mostly only have photos left, but there are a few other things I need to decide what to do with.

I’m not sure the struggle is joyful, but when I finish small parts of the project I do feel a bit of joy.

And while this small piece of paper is not part of my mom’s things, it is adjacent to it and I’ve been meaning to blog about it for three-and-a-half years.

Declutter 2017: The Hamburger Pencil Holder

Emotions, Things, ,

Except for a misplaced electric wire, our basement remodel is complete. We spent this afternoon putting items back where they belong and deciding what to toss, what to donate and what to keep. It is very hard to me to get rid of things because …what if I will need it in the future even though I have not used it in two decades and it is beginning to rust? (toss) …but that was my mom’s! (keep)  …maybe someday I will find a record player that plays 78s! (keep for now).

So, apparently, there is a book that says if you hold an item and it gives you joy keep it, if not get rid of it (or something like that we have a copy of the book but I cannot find it so I have not read it yet). Some of the things I held today definitely did not bring me joy (toss), but some did (keep). One of the items that I held today was a gift from my favorite student ever whose mom is my favorite mother of a student ever. It gives me a lot of joy because of who gave it to me.

It is unique and kitschy and  full of memories and I want to keep it but since I really don’t use pencils or pens that much anymore, I really don’t use the pencil holder. It has sat, empty, for years on the shelf in the basement office but once sat on my desk at work and held extra (sharpened) pencils for my students to use. I may end up tossing it, even though it brings me joy, but not quite yet…