What gets Kept and what doesn't

Last week’s string of days with triple-digit temps and no air conditioning upstairs sent the cats and me to someplace much cooler–the basement. It didn’t feel right to keep them ‘in camp’ so long without stretch and play time. So creativity kicked in and opportunity appeared.

When life hands out the lemons, make lemonade and pies; find ways to enjoy and capitalize on the bounty…and add a little FUN.

For Lankie and Mo, that translated into unrestricted exploration of the entire basement. They wove in and out of ours and the neighbor’s storage boxes and shelves, investigated behind washers and dryers, climbed into clothes baskets, and checked out every hidden corner, nook and cranny they could find.  They resurfaced with cobwebbed faces and tails, and once realizing there was no attempt to catch them, returned for attention and hung close by. 

In the meantime, I found a folding chair and old milk crate and started opening some of my storage boxes, full of books and files from decades ago…college notes, student teaching lesson plans, religious studies and youth ministry resources, papers I’d written, presentations, parent meetings, youth events and retreats I’d led.  So much I hadn’t thought of in years…and yet all pieces of me that have brought me to now,…  And as I went through and handled each piece, opened notebooks and files, read notes and found treasures, I sorted….  I kept the treasures and anything my heart and spirit were still attached to.  The rest, I released…. 

And in the end, there were a couple ring binders to re-use, a box of resource books to donate, and a big pile of papers and folders to recycle.  I discovered that what gets kept is what still matters.  And also how easy it was to know and release what no longer does… It is good, grounding, inspiring…me now.

Re-discovery is a sacred path. 

And the cats?  Found them perched quietly close by, present, contented.