Spoon Me

I spent my Labor Day hanging with a little old gal named, Elaine. I call her Laney... and sometimes Granny (since she is in fact my grandma). I haven't seen Laney since I got back from my trip up the coast and she's coming up on a pretty big birthday so it was time. She inherited a collection of travel spoons from her mother. You can find them at any airport or tourist trap. They are sweet little spoons that have a commemorative plate, stamp or engraving that says the location where the spoon is from. My G-ma has racks and racks of these little gems and every trip I go on I bring one back for her. These spoons are supposed to be meant as a sentimental memory holder but for granny, 90% of them come from her children, grandchildren, and other family members.

I was looking at all these spoons while placing mine from The Mystery Trees, and I started to think about the things we hold onto that aren't ours. No judgement to Granny and her spoon collection, of course. Just a reflection on these things that are taking up space and while they have meaning to a cute little old gal - in my own house might not fit so well.

I've touched on this idea of historical lessons before. We say things from our lips but from someone else's mouth. We take actions with our body but with someone else's spirit. We essentially are slightly schizo. I'm not calling you crazy. Maybe I am but crazy in a beautiful sense. Because if you can note who is telling you to be who you then you have the ability to support it or to shut it down, that is simply beautiful. You have the ability to thank your great aunt Bessie for telling you that mixed patterns don't look good together and still put together a banging outfit filled with the patterns that makes you happy, confident and overall a badass. 

Today is as good as any to start working on this. If you need a mantra, create a mantra - tell yourself that you're a powerful fucking human being that is confident in the decisions that you make for yourself - and don't just say it but mean it. Write it on your mirror that you look in while you brush your teeth. Put a post-it on your door. Put a calendar reminder in your phone. Whatever you need to do to remind yourself that you are a powerful fucking human. Or visualize change. Write Aunt Bessie a nice note saying "thanks but no thanks" and put it in the mailbox (you can email it to yourself - I've found that as a great resource for visualization).

Whatever you do, clear out the spoons because although they are pretty, if they aren't from your own trips they are just clutter.