Washing dishes used to annoy me. I do them, they reappear, and so it goes. They are always there, never an empty sink. Then I read Myquillen Smith's book, The Nesting Place: It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful, and she said something like this: As long as there are people living in your house, you will always have laundry and dishes to do. It's a fact of life. They will never, for more than a brief period of time, be completely done and clean.
You would think this was common knowledge, but for me it was a revelation. As long as there are people living in my house, it is OK to not have an empty laundry hamper and spotless, pristine sink. Those things are signs of life. It is not a realistic, achievable goal, even for a stay-at-home mom, to never have laundry or dishes to do. It simply is not.
Another thing I learned from her; it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful. This was a big one for me. I previously only thought perfection was beautiful.
White undershirt with a stain that would never be seen because it's an undershirt, not acceptable. Odd numbers or asymmetry, not acceptable. One vertical and one horizontal, not acceptable. Curves with straight lines, not acceptable. Gut feelings over logic, not acceptable.
Until now. There are two pictures on my mantle, one of each son, and one is vertical and one is horizontal. Why? Because my gut liked those two pictures. Previously, I wouldn't let myself do that, but now I know that it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful. I did it, and it is not symmetrical, but it is beautiful.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Myquillen's book, and I highly recommend it. It is filled with beautiful, thoughtful pictures of her own homes. She's lived in 14 houses in 18 years, and most of them were rentals. It is part design, part theology, and part let-yourself-live book. I wasn't planning on gaining so much wisdom from it, but I did. This book was recommended by, of course, none other than Jen Hatmaker.
