Brace yourselves folks...this one gets a little deep. (At least for me)
So this may seem like a completely random and nonsensical thing to most, but for anyone who has spent any amount of time away from their belongings, this may just strike a cord.
A funny thing happened to me tonight that caught me off guard. As I stood in front of my china cabinet, unpacking box after box, a strange feeling came over me. As I looked at each item before I put it into the cabinet, I recalled the exact moment in time when I had received or bought the piece. Each one said something about me at a particular time in my life that was completely unique. As I slowly filled up the cabinet, I was oddly at peace with the horrible thing I referred to as "stowage" and the chaos of building, fixing, moving, unpacking, and getting settled. I realized immediately that it was because, for the first time in a very long time, I was able to remember my "personality." I absorbed all the things about myself that had been packed away in those boxes for four years. It may sound dorky, but there was a part of me that wanted to shout out..."FINALLY...I'M BACK!" Who knew that a box of flasks and some colored glasses could have that kind of affect on me.
At the time, I thought it was the coolest thing that could have occurred. My mom was in my kitchen (we are preparing for Thanksgiving) and I proudly walked into the kitchen and announced my joyous discovery. She simply cocked her head and said "huh, what do you mean...I don't think you are making any sense." I tried to explain it to her, but quickly gave up for fear that further explanation (about my inability to be completely myself while living at home) may hurt her feelings, even though that was not my intention. So I marched back into the family room, feeling awkward about her reaction.
But one look at the cabinet, complete and shining..and the guilty pangs just disappeared. Nope, no guilt here...because I had nothing to feel badly about. It isn't a surprise to anyone (except me) that living at home (after years of independence) can make a person suppress a lot of who they really are in order to more easily meld into their environment. The key is being able to bring back the personality that makes me who I am. Slowly but surely over the past few weeks I have seen this with the emptying of each box. GOD I LOVE UNPACKING ALL OF A SUDDEN.
Well, in the comfort of my own home I have no regrets about shouting from the roof "Look out Little Rhody...your in for a real treat".......cause my personality is pretty darn snazzy if I do say so myself.
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