Sparkle and Pop

 The box opening continues.  My bedroom is home to three large rubber maid boxes, each full of clothes.  Some seasonal.  Some size-onal.

It has me thinking about how things fit.  It's not just clothing that we need to try on and wear for a while to see if it works.  I often feel I'm wearing an attitude or opinion that doesn't fit.  Many a day, my mood feels too tight.

One scan across the boxes of clothing and I wonder, "Why do I own that?"  or "How did this piece get in here?"

I have a similar feeling about parts of my life.  "How'd we end up here, again?," "Where did that come from?,"  Who are these people?"

Many months ago I mentally compared the town we live in to a pair of ill fitting jeans.

You know the pair.  Functional, sure.  If your only goal is not to be naked, (and some days it is) they work just fine.  They have a few qualities that attracted you to them (or keep you satisfied).  Until you try to sit in them.  Or climb stairs.  Or reach up to grab something on a high shelf.  You are reminded once again, "Oh, yeah...these don't fit."  For me that feeling of ill fitting clothing can ruin a whole day--or at least serve as a awful distraction.

This place is like that for me.  A conversation is too forced., the opinions around me too tight and the overall culture too stale and I remember; "Oh, yeah I don't fit here."

But the best stylists can make an outfit work with accessories.  When it comes to fashion, accessories is where I always fall short.  I can pick gorgeous clothing and stunning shoes, but I can never get the rest right.**  But in life...in life, it is my "accessories" that make this ill fitting place work.

The sparkle and 'pop' of my friends is why I keep getting dressed each day.  Their presence, and help, makes me forget the rest of my wardrobe issues.  The stability and consistency of my husband and kids is like those staple earnings you are always complimented on but never think about as you put them on.  Ever thankful for their presence.  Irreplaceable if lost.  Always startled by their beauty when you stop to look at them again.

I'm so thankful for the people that add sparkle and stability to my days.  I guess I am also thankful I'm not naked.

You are too.


**  "I can pick gorgeous clothing and stunning shoes, but I can never get the rest right."  I said I CAN--I did not say that I HAVE in nearly 7 years.