What’s inside your junk drawer? My junk drawer is full of empty promises and broken dreams.
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Have you looked inside your junk drawer lately? My junk drawer is full of empty promises and broken dreams. I love the junk drawer because it reminds me of what my life could have amounted to. All that I have to do is open that one little drawer and I can see what could have been. So much regret in one small space.
When I was a child, I loved visiting my grandparents in Canwood, Saskatchewan. One reason for my childhood love of Canwood was that my Auntie Rita had the best junk drawer in the world. To a 4 year old it was a story drawer, a place of mystery and treasures. In fact, one summer I snuck away from my grandparents home just to go to my Aunt’s house and that see what I could find in that magical drawer.
I can remember it like it was yesterday. Probably because I have forgotten everything else in between. It’s just easier to forget things like names and other unimportant details. I like to keep room for the important stuff. Her junk drawer overflowed with locks and keys, gadgets, small tools, knobs, unknown mechanical pieces and assorted odds and ends. I think I loved the junk drawer because every piece had a story to tell.
What does your junk drawer say about your life?
The feature photo for this piece is our families junk drawer. I wanted you to be able to visualize the drama within my drawers. (Keep it real, there are children in the room.) My wife has not seen this post yet and when she finds out I have shared this, she will not be happy. Junk drawers are a source of conflict in our home. I love junk drawers but my my wife has a different take. She believes it is nothing but a junk-drawer-deadzone. How you make peace your junk drawer says a lot about your relationship.
The contents of my junk drawer amount to the following list: a dead heart rate monitor watch, one dice, a small bottle of hand sanitizer, a bunch of pens that we all hate using, a calculator, a lonely and very angry Lego figure, a 15 year old lifeless electronic organizer, a paper address book, some notepapers, our check book and some lint.
The Junk Drawer is a Metaphor for Our Lives
Your junk drawer is a metaphor for your life. It tells the story of your reach and your reality, your dreams and your disappointments. The junk drawer is your Freudian slip and Jungian shadow.
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Your junk drawer is a metaphor for your life. It tells the story of your reach and your reality, your dreams and your disappointments. The junk drawer is your Freudian slip and Jungian shadow. What lurks within the junk drawer exposes part of your psyche.
For fun and amusement, I thought we could analyze my junk drawer.
Dead Heart Rate Monitor – Trust me, I’ve had a lot of fitness goals over the years. We received the watch as a gift and no one has ever used it. Some fitness goals don’t fit us… and I guess we’re not that fit either. The watch reminds me of all of the sweat and tears that stayed in the drawer. That’s why I keep the drawer closed.
One Dice – When we have a hard time making decisions, we use a dice to help us out. If we had two dice we would probably be more successful at decision making.
Discarded Handheld Organizer – So much promise and so little relevance. I really have no idea why we keep it or even how to turn it on, yet for some reason it feels wrong to throw it away.
Angry Lego Man – My kids are getting older and Lego is a relic of their past. They have shelves full of the stuff but they think they have too much street cred to play with it. So I play with it. Don’t knock it. I love the Lego.
When the printing press was introduced, our freedom and knowledge exploded. Children know that if they steal all of the pens, their parent’s freedom and knowledge will shrink.
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Pens – Why do we have so many pens and none of them seem to work? Probably one of my children has a box of hoarded pens under their bed. It’s all part of their strategy: When the printing press was introduced, our freedom and knowledge exploded. Children know that if they steal all of the pens, their parent’s freedom and knowledge will shrink. Starve Mom and Dad of our writing implements so our higher capacities will starve. Busted!
Hand Sanitizer – We use the stuff all of the time but I keep getting sicker. Probably because I drink it. I am trying to quit. One day at a time.
Empty notepads cry little paper tears, “Write on me” and “Draw a little stick man.”
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Note pads – I love the note pads. Empty notepads cry little paper tears, “Write on me” and “Draw a little stick man.” My mind is full of note pad doodles. Doodles are the commercials of my day.
The calculator and the checkbook – Other than the sucky pens, we only need three other things from the drawer: the notepad, the calculator and the check book. What does this say about how we live our lives? We probably have way too much crap everywhere just in case we might need it.
I can sense a weekend of cleaning and de-cluttering coming. I love my life.
If you are listening, your junk drawer wants to tell you a story.
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Have you looked inside your junk drawer lately? If you are listening, your junk drawer wants to tell you a story. Do you have a junk drawer memory? Why don’t you tell me about it so I can enjoy it with you? I won’t laugh, at least not out loud.
My next article about my house will be about my shelf of broken dreams. Stay tuned, folks.
Keep it real
Reprinted with permission from smswaby.
Photos courtesy of smswaby and AngryJulieMonday.