“It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”
–W.Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)
I love to treasure hunt. For years, auctions and flea markets were my Sunday afternoon pleasure. Since my twenties, I have had a passion for old dishes, silver, lace and vintage bedding. I have had a certain aesthetic in my minds-eye , it lays between flea market kich and shabby chic.
I know it when I see it.
Every so often there was an estate auction held at one of the ballrooms in the local hotels. Unfortunately, one of the auctioneers used to ruin the experience. Charlie, was always cantankerous and rude to the people when things didn’t sell. More than once I vowed never to go back, because I couldn’t comprehend giving money to someone who treated his customers and his workers with so much disrespect.
“Come on people, these people didn’t own any junk. It’s all good. I’m not putting anything else up, until someone buys this.” Then to punish the people for not wanting the velvet deer painting or 1970’s Tupperware, he would have his workers put the good stuff back on the truck.
It might be perfectly “good,” but let’s be frank, not everybody (or anybody) wants it. Why do we allow ourselves to be guilted into settling for what we don’t want?
Since Christmas, I have been overwhelmed by the number of storage bins that are collecting in my barn. Most of them are filled with “really good stuff.” Some of it has been given to me, some I have spent good money on, some is gifted or inherited. Some suits my ideal aesthetic, and some is just old stuff.
Somewhere in my psyche, is a feeling, that to get rid of something that is perfectly good is a waste, that I am not being thankful. I should be happy with what I have.
Sometimes, in life we settle.
We fill our lives with things that are good enough, and never leave space for the great.
It is really is time to purge. It is time to rid ourselves of the good, to make way for the great.
Of course, this principle can go much farther than settling for that old coverlet on your bed that no longer makes your soul sing when you walk into your bedroom.
It’s bigger than that. It’s your relationships, your job, your home, your daily habits.
Fear always says that we need to settle, that we should be happy with the good-enough, we should bloom where we are planted. We should accept the status quo.
Not Everyone will Understand
Not everyone will agree with your choices. To many, your view of what you want may look like a step backwards. People may not understand why you want to get rid of a brand new matching bedroom suite and replace it with 1940’s mismatched painted pine.
Not everyone will think it practical to replace your dishwasher safe, name brand stainless steel for mismatched silverplate.
You are not everyone. Do what you want, with this one life you get to live.
What do you think?
