One of my challenges in life is responsibly reacting to my tendency to bolt from “boredom.” I call it boredom because, in my defensive training to give good reason to the imperfections of my abstract, creative brain, I’ve grown bad habits of negatively labeling things that I wish came naturally for me but don’t. Like maybe routine and consistency.
I’ve struggled with this my whole life. I need spontaneity! I want adventure! Give me a project! I can’t sit still. Challenging myself to rein in these voices, I sometimes resist the urge to spray paint another piece of furniture and instead practice Buddhist meditation exercises which guide devotees through a series of steps. We are advised during these short meditative trainings to label anything outside the lines of complete thoughtless space as “thinking”—simply label it in your head by saying to yourself “thinking.” Brain veers off to what you have to do tomorrow? Call it “thinking.” Mind suddenly trails to that perfume you smell or that reaction you had that bothered you? Stamp it with “thinking” and refocus. For me, in these beginning stages, this means meditation turns out to be fifteen minutes of constant labeling.
THIIIIIIIINKING. Thinking. Thinking. Stop @#&*ing thinking, I say.
I am learning to lean in to my discomfort of peaceful thoughtlessness in order to swim out of it. It takes time to change bad habits, and I’ve made good progress.
I do know my lame excuse for messes (“I’m creative, I like clutter”), my resistance to a laundry schedule, my need to bolt with the presence of monotonous routine is really more like a child’s need for boundaries disguised as a flailing fit. My habits and tendencies beg for order. And, like a good parent who recognizes children can have a sense of independence and strong will as well as discipline and mindful manners, I make room for both—the routine I know I need as well as the room to break out: be adventurous, make messes, start new projects.
I do have a good standard of steady routine that reminds me how grounding it can be. For three years in college, I lived with my grandparents, and while sadly at the time I often viewed their repetitive routines and un-spectacular small town life as confining, that small town life swallowed me in a way I needed to be consumed—in a teaching, saving, comforting, soul-hugging way that straightened out some confusion and promised “Honey, you’re going to remember this.” I was a flailing newborn of an identity-confused teenager, and the structure of an eighty-four-year-old couple’s small town life swaddled me with some sense of serenity.
First of all, Spring Arbor, Michigan is small. There was Hutch’s grocery store, a family-owned hardware, an A&W and a very big church circled by a very small college. And corn fields and deer–the ones that survived my family’s fenders. If you were having a bad day and say, wanted to go buy a pair of shoes to feel better (moot point for a poor college student, but still try on shoes), there was Weatherwax Drugs where maybe, if you were lucky, you’d find those pull-over-your-shoes galoshes.
Craving adventure and spontaneity, sometimes I’d skip a class and head east to the city of Jackson which, unlike Spring Arbor, offered at least a Target and a mall. Fresh air for my thirst for life outside the church/country limits of Spring Arbor sometimes came in the form of a half hour stroll through Michael’s where I’d peruse the craft aisles and find comfort staring, ironically, into the happy world of Susan Branch stickers which exalted the very truths I thought I was escaping. Illustrations of flowered teapots, straw gardening hats, cats sleeping in cozy chairs and curly handwritten quotes like “Home is where the Heart Is” portrayed a contrasting calm to my restlessness. It was the contentment I craved and yet, had I stopped looking, chasing, clawing to get away, perhaps I would have realized it was the contentment I possessed.
Every day was pretty much the same: weak coffee at 7:30, breakfast trays accompanied by morning news, a reading from the Daily Bread, prayer, kitchen clean-up, more quiet reading or maybe crossword puzzles, a short load of laundry, yard work in the summer or indoor work in the winter, a sensible lunch, clean-up, rest, tidy up again, dinner around the table, and finally the evening ham radio session followed by a little TV and then off to bed. Bills were mailed out the same day they arrived, lists were crossed off the same day they were created. Needs were anticipated before they occurred rather than frantically reacting to them. In other words, toilet paper was never used in place of Kleenex, coffee filters were never substituted with torn paper towel. My grandparents knew what they liked and were not wooed by new-fangled products or colorful sales tactics. Same Vidalia Onion salad dressing in the fridge, same Fig Newtons in the cookie jar, same awful thick peach nectar for breakfast. Once in a great while, my grandma would rearrange the living room by moving one armchair, switching a footstool and trading out a few grandkids school pictures for different ones. The carpet was old but clean, the furniture outdated yet charming. And no matter how many new scents PineSol came out with, Grandma loyally stuck to Barkeeper’s Friend—the canned powder version—for cleaning kitchen and floors. Why fix what’s not broken?
I attended classes in the midst of all this but was home enough to feel the sameness of their days. And though I escaped to Jackson when I needed to breathe and made remarks about my post-graduate commitment to never ever live in Spring Arbor, promising instead to entertain a very exciting, adventurous life, I couldn’t deny the fact that there was comfort in the little house on Dorothy Lane and the routines that dwelled there. They pulled the prefixes off my twenty-one-year old insecurity and uncertainty and prepped me for the world that would follow.
Life is excusably more hectic today—little kids, more responsibilities, more distractors, Squinkies everywhere. I still bolt for adventure, start too many spray painting projects and stress over lists. I admit, I am still wooed by PineSol’s new scents and am lucky if we even have cookies in our cookie jar, not to mention the same ones every time. But there is the anchor of home life and the comforts of routine that ground me. Even the little things—the quilts I’m drawn to, the crocheting I want to take up, that Ima gonna take your Grandma’s style I can’t get away from—it’s a piece of the past, homey calming totems that give good representation to the simplicity and order of old-fashioned life.
In an overstimulating world of Internet access and iPhones that can quickly tangle us up, the refuge I seek often looks a lot like those three years I spent with my grandparents. Familiar routines, small meaningful tasks, the ability to sit through a meditation session without a stream of THINKING (we’ll get there). Structure and routine aren’t boring—they’re the stability I need in my life that allow me to adventurously fly away when necessary without that sinking feeling that if I fall, there’s nothing there to catch me.
So, we feed both needs. Creative messes, spontaneous road trips, rearranging the living room again and scouting out new projects–things that are continually softened by unchanging morning routines, bed time stories, quilts, lists, sticking to a good work schedule and attempting to find ways that work for me to be more organized and consistent. Afternoon tea and a clean bathtub help.
It doesn’t have to be either/or. It’s most definitely one of those both situations. I am an adventurous life-loving creative who makes messes, veers from schedules and loses lists but knows a good thing when she sees it. And that house on Dorothy Lane with its sameness and smallness and you-know-you-want-to-come-back-homeness was a very, very good thing.
Someday, when I rock a silver bun and only use Barkeeper’s Friend in my kitchen, I’m totally going to do crossword puzzles every day.
You are growing up–and I love it!
This was wonderful. 🙂
I thrive on routine… but every once in a while I find myself thinking “I wish I had time to just take a day and do _______”…which would totally be messing up my routine…but I think we all need a little bit of both in our lives. Thanks for describing it so well!
Yep, gorgeous. You’re so lucky to have had such a grounding experience and to have been left with so many transferrable skills and an idea of ‘How To’ 🙂
Beautifully written, you made me nostalgic for times when everything was simply routine!
I always enjoy your posts, but this one hit close to home…
I’m laughing about the Bar Keepers Friend. I use that every day. I’m a little old lady trapped inside a 36 year old body 😉 (And I LOVE routine!)
I love this. It made me reflect on the summers I spent with my grandparents and how they did have schedules we followed that gave me so much stability in their teeny, tiny towns where the 7-eleven was the only chain anything we saw.
Balance is always tricky, especially when we try to find the balance between embracing who we are and improving who we are. And then, of course, there are those darned dreams/ideals of ours.
Someone recently told me that it’s not “all or nothing”…it’s “all and something.” This helps me find clarity and balance when I find myself overwhelmed or passionate about making some sort of a change or improvement. “Something” is certainly better than nothing… and definitely much more manageable!
Balance is always tricky, especially when we try to find the balance between embracing who we are and improving who we are. And then, of course, there are those darned dreams/ideals of ours.
Someone recently told me that it’s not “all or nothing”…it’s “all and something.” This helps me find clarity and balance when I find myself overwhelmed or passionate about making some sort of a change or improvement. “Something” is certainly better than nothing… and definitely much more manageable!
and on that day. i will be crosswording my brains out on the porchswing with you.
Ah, balance. I’ve been looking for that every day for the past year. I’ve always been told I’m an 85 year old in a 25 year old body with my crocheting, eating early dinners, etc. But I’m also quite conflicted as half of me wants that spontinaiety and adventure while the other half desires peace, serenity and an early retirement.
Ah, such is life. 😛
I lived with my widowed grandmother when I was in college. I had some of the same thoughts as you with how nothing much ever changed. Thankfully she actually lived in a bigger town than where I was raised so there was more to do if I needed to get out. I loved using her library card to go to the “big” library close by and check out books. I loved her cooking and that she only had the basic local TV channels. It was a time I look back on with fond memories. Especially the night she sat on her back porch talking to me and my then boyfriend (now husband) and suddenly we looked and she had fell through the old lawn chair seat and we had to pull her out. Of course she laughed as hard as we did!
You have more balance than you know… look at your vacation to Michigan… nice, easy, slow.
routine has strenght in it, but mess can let us fly, i love both <3
thank you as always to think about something is in our life !!!
I have never, ever been able to stop the “thinking” in meditation. Not once. So you just let us know if you figure that one out.
It’s funny, how we label the things we struggle with negatively. I’m totally guilty of that as well. Except I’m sort of the opposite as you.
Fun people were “obnoxious.” Spontaneity was “dangerous and irresponsible.” Sameness syndrome is my curse. One day I’ll be brave and break out a spray paint project!
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Ahhh yes, this is reminding me of growing up in Ohio. I’m in NYC now and was just telling someone today here in the city who’s from TX how although it’s quite different where we’re from vs. the big, fast-paced city, how I really appreciate the simpleness of where I was raised. It’s such a beauty to “grow up” as the first commenter noted and realize instead of turning your nose up at where you grew up (as I often did in my 20s) that indeed it made me who I am and I’m so thankful for that.
LOVE. THIS. TOTALLY.
Dear Adventurous Life-Loving Creative,
Don’t grow up and change too much; you’re doing a marvellous job (inspiring thousands of women!) just being you!
Best wishes for all good things, including silver buns and crosswords,
Ali in Switzerland
Beautiful, and so comforting in itself.
This is going to sound silly, but I really feel like just reading this is giving permission to how I am. ‘Cause I’m the same way.
But it feels like you have to choose one or the other. It feels like the world wants to fit all of us into a category – the adventurer, or the homemaker … pick one. I’ve battled that decision for years.
But it CAN be both. And I’m not the only one. Thank you.
Honey – I know I’ve said this before: You can’t just type letters and call it writing. What was this hot mess, Dude?
@Fifty-two pairs in 2012,
Aw, I’m sorry you didn’t like this post, but I didn’t write it for you. I wrote it for me, and I had fun doing it.
If you’d truly like to be an editor–which I assume by your random comments–I’d challenge you to really go out and fulfill those dreams. Ask yourself how you can accomplish that goal and follow through, sister! You might want to expand beyond the small thinking of leaving sarcastic comments on blogs–think bigger! A world awaits for your more positive, powerful effect.
Much Love (yes love!)
Kelle
@April–
Made me smile. Have some good, funny memories like that too–all the sweeter after our grandmas and grandpas have passed.
~Kelle
You’ve really made me so nostalgic–dang it! I am a 70 year old who still misses her grandparents. Oh, if I could just go back for a day and be able to realize how wonderful life really was back then. Thanks for reminding me.
Kelle, to be fair to Fifty-two pairs in 2012, this really was a poorly worded blog entry. Many run-on sentences and words that yu won’t find in the dictionary. While I often enjoy reading your posts, this one was particularly hard to decipher. I couldn’t read its entirety because I kept having to go back and re-read segments to understand what you were trying to say. Perhaps Fifty-two could have been more tactful in her critique, but I’d also hope that you are open to such opinions as it will make you a better writer.
Come on Kelle – give Grandma a little respect and clean up this entry. Be good to yourself and seek excellence.
This made me smile. The negative comments really annoyed me, so i was happy to see you responded appropriately 🙂 Keep writing for yourself and the people who don’t critique your words but rather look to it for guidance, humor, happiness, and inspiration, like me.
This is Kelle’s blog! She writes it for herself. We are guests here. She is not submitting this for your approval or critique. If you don’t like the content, grammar, spelling or photos why do you continue to read her blog? Jealousy is an ugly trait. I’ve always noticed those who attack Kelle on her blog are usually anonymous with fake profiles and no followers…there is a reason for that! Go make your own life and find enjoyment in the small things perhaps you’ll also find happiness and contentment.
Loved this! I crave calmness and routine, but am not very good at creating it for myself. One day I will be a grown up : )
The thing I most look forward to, as I “grow up,” is the comfort of the routines, the fine tuned seamlessness of days like you described of Dorothy Lane. It takes a lot of practice. That’s what I give myself as I flail along somedays, also being a creative type, Not an on-top-of things Type A gal- it takes practice to achieve our grandparents’ kind of ‘got it down.’
Writing also takes a lot of practice. And is hard. Dorothy Parker said: “If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”
Without wanting to sound like a kiss-ass, I say: keep it up, lady! I’m happy to read your thoughts, your story.
big love, friend. loved the thought you put in here!
Oh and I love Barkeeper’s friend, it is the only thing that will clean my porcelain kitchen sink. That said, I love when a new scent of Mr. Clean comes out. I am somewhat of a cleaning product hoarder LOL
What happened to the living room furniture?
I grew up in Brooklyn, MI so Jackson was also my escape for “big city” (laughing so hard at myself right now). Who would have thought I would eventually end up in in an ACTUAL big city full of adventure!
I can still smell my grandparents’ house, hear their arguing in Italian, and remember that her “story” came right after lunch and she let me watch it even though my mom would never let me. I loved their routine, and some day I will go back to that too!
This was very hard to understand. Do you actually read the stuff you write?
With all due and deserved respect, Ms. Hampton, you did not write this for yourself. You wrote this for your readers, who give you the clicks, who give you the sponsors, who give you the money. Be real. This post gave me a headache. (And I haven’t even had any wine yet, so it’s not THAT.)
Oh my word – peach juice!!! That brings me back! 🙂
love this post. thank you
🙂 Smiling through this one! Nice job.
Great post Kelle….
I think part of the issue with the post is the readability. It is in much smaller print then most blog posts. I am wondering if you could change the size? Thank you!!
I loved this post… Brought me back to my own Grandparents’ homes. Kelle I really find the haters around here annoying – glad you responded! Keep doing what you do and keep being you! Xoxo
Nice reminder for me! Love thinking of the wonderful memories with my grandparents who were my favorite people. I am such a routine person but can also be spontaneous too!!
@Mandie Lane:
Please feel free to relieve yourself of the blog critic position you seem to have assumed. You visited this website, thus providing the “click” that Kelle seems to need in order to…you know…survive. Go ahead and give yourself a high five, for you’ve done a great job at conveying your moot point.
Please do not assume you speak for all of Kelle’s readers/followers. If anything, you’re part of the reason why her support still grows strong.
Grew up with Stacie Elder (^^^) and can attest to the appeal that Jackson holds for small-town living. And as a fairly-recent Spring Arbor alum, I can say with confidence that nothing has changed since you left. Same old Hutches. Same old Weatherwax, Same old dependability. Thanks for the perspective you offer in this post. It’s still too easy for me to knock small-town sameness and long for the adventure that allegedly comes from anywhere but home.
I definitely appreciate routine. More than chaos for sure. I do like the break, occasionally, from routine. And then I like getting back to it!
I love this post. I am SO not a routine person. I’ve LITERALLY been saying for the past almost 10 years (since my oldest was born) that I “need to get in a good routine”! We have to an extent (4 kids will do that to a gal) but are very spontaneous in other ways. And I stay up WAY too late for projects/alone time. I do have a daily “to do” list (that I need to start again) that helps….then I say to myself, “sticky floor? no huge deal, floor washing day is tomorrow anyway!” Thanks for sharing…That picture of your little guy laying on the quilt looks a lot like your Nella!
Your post smacks of inner turmoil and lack of control. It is eclectic, chaotic and lacks meaning to those not battling your own inner demons.
Chaos does not breed creativity it breeds disharmony and confusion.
@nikki – if she wrote this for herself and herself only why self publish and encourage commentary? Snacks of contradiction.
You’ve transported me back to vacations with my grandparents. It was always relaxing to take a break from my frenzied young adult pace and just be. I loved sitting next to them watching the news, or watching them in the garden while drinking some Costco version of iced lattes. Thanks Kelle. Much love to you and your family.
I’ve been reading your blog for about 3 years now and have loved every entry, but I especially loved todays as my husband and I just moved to Spring Arbor, MI. It is such a cute little community, but yes I am very thankful for the Target 10 mins away:)
This post warmed my soul this morning Kelle. Thank you for a beautifully written piece. I continue to adore your blog and cherish each new post! I so agree that the balance of both in life is necessary and good. I am more of a planner and routine girl myself but also love spontaneity and new projects along the way. And it’s the existence of both that make us who we are and create a whole life. Happy Tuesday!
Awesome. You always draw me into your life, past and present, by your inspiring and descriptive words.
And I agree with one commenter who said all is just the same in charming little Spring Arbor. 🙂 My husbnad works at that “little college” – now a university (so, I guess there’s one change).
God bless your sweet little family, Kelle.
Kelle Hampton….
You are a wonderful writer {And photographer!!}. As a fellow Kindred Spirit writer myself, I glean from your gift, your talent, your art form. Continuously!! You inspire me in more ways than one to better myself as a writer!! I know I’ve said this before. –Wink, wink!!–
You are a beautiful woman, both inside and out, Kelle. 😉
Well, I must go. I need to spend some quality time with my Beautifully Unique mutt, Rose, before our niece, “Little Munchkin” comes over!! ;-D
–Raelyn
So lovely, I had to click through feedly, and tell you so.
CANNOT believe the negativity on here! If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all! Love you Kelle, you are an amazing woman, wife, mother, AND writer! 🙂
It’s funny how much I relate to this post. I live off spontaneity and impulse decisions which may or may not always work out in my favor. I don’t always (read never) have a well-organized and tidy home. I prefer to hit the pool when I have 8 loads of laundry that needs tending to, and twice in the last year, my family has planned, packed and headed off for weekend excursions within an hour’s time. However, there’s always a moment where I sit back and realize that there is comfort in a tidy house, knowing your to-do list is complete and there is finally some order to an otherwise chaotic home. Being a teacher, July has motivated me to tend to the house a little more. The pool and Harry Potter are still calling my name, and I will answer, just after I’ve done a little cleaning first. 🙂
On another note, I remember so clearly my grandparents having the same things in their house all the time. Their food/drink of choice? Diet Pepsi and Velveeta cheese. Haha gotta love it!
Happy Tuesday, Kelle.
http://www.wolfswinkelfam.blogspot.com
I love routine…and hate it all at the same time…especially when it includes laundry 😉
xo,
Katie
hellolittlebean.com
shopboldthreads.com
Dear Kelle,
Just writing here to check if you received my e-mail with info about the Popina swimsuit Giveaway…? Just wanted to make sure my e-mail was not sent directly to the spam inbox or something! *Waiting excitedly!* 🙂
Lisa Marie
I thrive on routine. Leave it to a newborn who won’t nap and cries so much to throw off my routine. but I’m finding that giving up my routine somedays is freeing in a whole new way.
How can you say you wrote this “for you” when you published it on a public blog? No offense but I mean, that’s simply not true.
Thanks for this essay, Kelle. I love your description of the grounding routines at your grandparents and I totally get striving for that in the midst of a creative personality and life with littles. I’ve been feeling a lot of discontent with my home and life lately and I think you describe perfectly the tension I’m experiencing.
I particularly love the line…”They pulled the prefixes off my twenty-one-year old insecurity and uncertainty and prepped me for the world that would follow.”
I hope that I can create a life in our home that pulls those prefixes off for my kids someday, you know?
Thanks for writing and for sharing it with others!!
~Jamie
P.S. I think I remember Glennon over at Momastery saying that there’s a difference between commenters disagreeing/criticizing and bullying. This is a space that you created and share with us readers, and I think it’s well within your prerogative to boot the bullies. Well-intentioned disagreement, sure, stay and let’s talk. Meanies? Go home. 🙂
I understood this post ALL too well. I struggle with the same balance and tend to buck routine myself. For the record, I AM an editor and had no trouble reading or comprehending this post. Although if I ever did, I certainly wouldn’t leave unsolicited writing or grammar feedback — what’s the point? Of course you *can*, but nobody asked. That’s just bad manners.
Also, read this today and thought of you and your MI love, Kelle: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3536858
Your Grandparents sound like they were wonderful. I love the pictures. I thrive on routine, I need to lighten up and learn to relax. I am always so impressed by creative people. I love the pictures.
Your Grandparents sound like they were wonderful. I love the pictures. I thrive on routine, I need to lighten up and learn to relax. I am always so impressed by creative people. I love the pictures.
Totally get this. If I have to pick one over the other, I pick routine and structure and simple. My kids need this, they will remember this. This is where we learn to stop and smell the roses and be happy with who we are.
dafuq did i just read.
oh kelle. you are my fave trainwreck.
Oh gosh – Kelle, I sincerely hope that you are able to brush aside the negativity that follows you, and focus on those of us that LOVE your writing and photography!
This post made me smile because I can relate to the feeling of always needing to do something. My mom has always said that even as a child, I could never sit and watch a TV show. I ALWAYS had to be doing something creative – like drawing – at the same time.
I’m very lucky to live right upstairs from my grandparents since I was 9 years old, when my parents and them bought a “mother-daughter” style home. I know exactly what you mean about the comfort of their routine, and the simplicity with which they live their life. For as long as I can remember, my grandma has placed a variety of cookies in the same jar, causing the flavors to blend in a way that isn’t as good as each individual cookie right out of the package… but it blends into a taste that is “Oh, I’m at grandma’s house” – and so I happily munch on them, even though blended-cookie-flavor-cookies aren’t my favorite.
As always, I’m looking forward to your next post.
Keep doing your thang, girl! 🙂
Nella holding that crayon like a boss.
I loved this post.
I found your blog awhile ago after someone recommended your book to me. I was surprised when I realized that as child, I’d known your family. Your Mom’s parents pastored at my childhood church.
Although this post may not have been written about your maternal grandparents, it still brought back many warm memories of them. Your Grandma’s warm smile and easy laugh was always my favorite. I remember going to their house for lunch on Sunday after church. What a treat!
Thanks for a great reminder of fond memories. Your family has touched hundreds of people. I’m lucky to count myself among them…first your grandparents, now you.
This was written just for me. I love it. I love everything about it because you described me. And sometimes I don’t know myself well enough. But when I see something good – I know it!
“Squinkies everywhere” I hear ya on that one! lol
This post took me back to spending the summer at my Nannie’s home. Coffee with toast that we dunked every morning. Then the cousins would come over. Did a little yard work before the sun got too hot. Shasta soda was our treat for helping. Soap operas on the tv, Oreos in the elephant cookie jar. A few nights a week we went to the smoke filled American Legion hall for Bingo. Oh the good old days! Wouldn’t trade it for anything. Now it’s my turn to create those memories for my grandchildren. Thanks Kelle!
I resonate with this so much. I grew up in a small town in Michigan and Spring Arbor was one of my top college choices. I decided that I needed a grand adventure though and left my small town for the suburbs of Chicago. A train ride into the city was only 20 minutes and the freedom I had in those 4 years of college not only helped me to appreciate the good in my small hometown, it made me crave it again. Upon graduation, I accepted a teaching position in a different, larger town in Michigan. When I married my husband, our jobs were an hour away from each other and we purchased a home in a very small town and I LOVE IT! We have charming neighbors, quirky hometown festivals, and a tiny farmer’s market. It’s home and I am so thankful for it.
Thank you for sharing your life with us. It’s a blessing to know that there are people who process life lessons the same way I do. You’re awesome. Keep it up 🙂
Having grown up in Concord, I LOVE it when you talk about Spring Arbor. I did have my first real job there, after all 🙂 Loved the post, as always!
I’m wondering if you struggle with the wanting to do everything…crafty, adventurous and also routine and feeling so frustrated because there just isn’t time for it all. I have so many ideas I’d love to see through. Project to begin. Goals to accomplish. Lists of books to read. Grrrrrrr.
Love this post, Kelle! I’m 23, currently working for the University and living in Spring Arbor. We keep things exciting and busy with good friends who live in the area and trips to nearby “bigger cities” like Ann Arbor but there are still times where I feel a bit restless! Thanks for the good reminders…I needed to read this! And by the way, since you left, we’ve gained not one but two dollar stores. Things are a lot more exciting around here. Ha.
I relate to pretty much everything you just said. My brain violently protests against routine and sameness, and mess definitely threatens to take over my life on a regular basis while I ignore the beast and work on art projects instead. Also, I live with my sister, who has collected every single “girl set” of squinkies that they’ve come out with for her 4 year old. I find those things everywhere.
You are a wonderful writer.