Hourglass

"If you love something set it free. If it comes back, it was meant to be."

I've heard several good quotes this week.

When something like that is spoken, a new kind of clarity enters life, even in the midst of turmoil and change. Since coming home and even before, I have watched my life completely change seasons, and it hit me that a year or two ago I never would have foreseen life leading this way. For instance, my dad moving to a different state for a job. Or that my many years of accumulated memories that cover my bedroom walls and ceiling would be taken down prematurely so that my room can become a hospice. Realizing one of my best friends has spent almost an entire year in a foreign country with very little contact. That I would hug another friend goodbye before he enters a war somewhere far away.

So now I'm in the middle of purging my room of stuff, stuff, and more stuff. Me. The possession whore that I am. I even considered buying a dress and shoes today, which means cleaning amnesia has set in. I spent hours sifting through my overstuffed closet, and even that did not cure my shopping affinity. I'm going to Mexico soon. Not the nice tourist beach Mexico, but the third-world U.S. neighbor just miles south of our border. A healthy dose of seeing those who have a tiny fraction of my possessions being far happier than I am should put life in perspective.

Maybe then I'll start relaxing. Start enjoying the relationship in my life that has more potential than I can dream of. Maybe looking for things to be perfect will change to being thankful they aren't.