Photo Credit: Spicey
I have become rather partial to re-organizing my cupboards. In a universe where I don’t get out much anymore, I have plenty of time to Marie Kondo to my hearts content. Some things feel hard to get rid of. It was easy to throw out spices that were no longer fragrant - clearly they would not pack a punch. Yesterday, I stalled over a stash of band-aids that we had likely had for 10 years. Expensive spices gone, but the band-aids I kept?
As I questioned this I realized there is an emotional need driving the band-aid hoarding. There is low to no alarm in the “what if I don’t have the right spice” moment but not having a bandage when I need one taps a primal survival vein. Especially in today’s environment. It’s frankly hard to let go of anything.
My friend and I share a “back-up to the back-up” Covid-Inventory planning methodology (ie one must have a supply of three of all deemed necessary items). It works very well for vitamins, it’s highly problematic with ice cream (husband takes stockpiles of ice-cream as a personal challenge). As I spoke with my friend last night she curiously said “I had three months supply of everything - I wasn’t sure if I would be alive after that”.
She was joking but we all felt the apocalyptic vibes when the pandemic confined us all to our homes. I remember my grandparents would never throw anything away and my parents explained that behavior was a result of the scarcity they endured through the Great Depression. That was a much deeper cut than what we have experienced so far. But it raises the question, what scars will we emerge with?
I personally continue to see this moment in our lifetime as an opportunity for growth. Scars can heal with the right attention (and a good band-aid). If we create new practices and allow the new to unfold, the resultant behaviors will be net beneficial. It feels good to be cleaning out my literal and metaphorical cupboards. Cleansing what I don’t need and ensuring (moderate) supplies of what I do.
The postscript to this is that I needed a bandaid last night (the oven won the fight) and I used one of the old ones. It promptly fell off. So I threw them all away and ordered a stash of the fabulous Welly “bravery badges”. They are brilliant, both in style and function. My new spices are also incredible; I researched some smaller suppliers after reading a great article on supporting small economy’s through spices. All told it has felt great finding new brands to support and new experiences to have in my limited universe. There is still a lot of exploring we can do, even when we can’t get out much to do it. Especially when you have a good supply of Bravery Badges #backuptothebackup.