Add And Subtract

I'm a person who is easily bored with my house decor. I move things. A lot. I rearrange decorations, I rehang pictures in other rooms, I paint a shelf a new color, I fill in nail holes just to create new ones. It's just what I do. I redecorate my mom's house too. I've never really asked permission, I just move her stuff. The twin's babysitter said that she tries to figure out every item's new location compared with it's last.


I've been moving this week. Here and there. A few Fall items in the mix. In all of my readjusting, I've noticed something. I 'see' things more once they have come to rest somewhere new. Same decor, different location. Just moving an item seems to bring it to life. In it's old position it became ordinary and I no longer noticed it. Once I placed it somewhere unusual, it grabbed my attention. Somehow it became cuter, more valued, than it was previously.

This has led me to wonder how much of my life is just like my house decor. How much has stayed the same for so long that I simply no longer pay attention to it. What exactly needs some rearranging? How much of my life has become ordinary because I have taken for granted that it's there?

My first thought was that I should rearrange my kids. Put them somewhere new, like my mom's house. Just for a few days. Then when I brought them back, they would be new again and I would appreciate them more. Sounds tempting, I know. Not for my mom, just for me.

More than likely, I'm the one who needs rearranging. A shifting of how I view all that is important to me. I need to look at my girls from a new angle so that the light shines on them in a slightly different way. I need to step back and take in a broader scene of my blessings instead of placing emphasis on what is missing. I need rehang my priorities so that their order resembles it's value. I need to take all that's ordinary and 'see' it as extraordinary.

Who knew that decorating could be so enlightening. Maybe the next time I'm rearranging at my mom's house, I'll just accidentally leave my kids there. For 3 days. It's just a thought....