Earlier this week, I was hit with a sudden and unrelenting urge to rearrange my furniture. It was so strong that I stopped mid-work on Monday afternoon and started pushing my bed toward the other wall. I didn’t measure anything beforehand; I just moved the big things and filled in the gaps. Two hours later, after some complications with my under-bed drawers getting stuck during the rotation, my living and working space was refreshed. My room feels longer now. I have a bit more open space.
As part of this tidy spree, I finally got rid of the participation trophies I’d accumulated over my years of softball and basketball. (My oldest trophy was from soccer, fall 2005.) Rather than throw them away, I posted them for free online. The woman who picked them up said she’s going to use them to make hat racks.
With the trophies gone, I had no use for these dinky corner shelves that my mom picked up off the side of the road ages ago. Online! Free! I had four offers within thirty minutes. Gone, gone, gone! It feels good to let go of things that have been sitting in my room for my entire childhood. I haven’t appreciated those trophies or shelves for years, but I’d never put in the effort to get rid of them. The fear of losing money in an exchange has kept me from giving things away, but these were some space-consuming items that I hadn’t paid for in the first place.
The trophies have moved on to a better home!
In other news, my high school friend Katherine called me today out of the blue. I was surprised and delighted when it turned out not to be a pocket call. We filled each other in on how college was going, how college is now going, and how we’re keeping busy while cooped up at home. (Lots of baking for both of us.) Being away from my friends has been hard for me. It’s easy to invent stories about why folks aren’t reaching out or responding to my texts. But we’re all busy, and we all have lots on our plates, and Katherine’s call reminded me that friends don’t have to talk every day to be friends. Heck, I can’t remember the last time she and I spoke.
Friendly reminder that phones can make phone calls.
This afternoon, a bunch of friends from my gap year program convened on a Zoom call. I’ll add this reunion to the long list of things that shouldn’t have taken a pandemic to happen. We caught up and reminisced a bit, and it almost felt like we were together again, sitting in a circle somewhere in Ecuador. Zoom has become quite the meme these days, but it really is a wonderful tool for bringing people together.