An Empty Drawer

My daughter’s crayons were on the table, and I went to place them into their proper drawer. The drawer was stuffed and wouldn’t budge. A little wiggling and finger fishing helped pry it open. Several items spilled over the sides. Cleaning up this mess, I opened the drawer next to it and was shocked to discover it was empty. Glory be to the highest!

The crayons fit easily into this drawer. My daughter entered the room and her eyes became as big as saucers:

Katia:    “Daddy! You can’t put those crayons in that drawer!”

[It’s always great hearing your wife’s voice through your six-year-old, btw]

Me:      “Um, and why can’t I put these crayons in here?”

Katia:    “That’s Mommy’s drawer. Nothing can go in there.”

Me:      “But there’s nothing in this drawer. It’s completely empty.”

[I placed the box of crayons in the empty drawer]

Katia:    “Ok, Daddy. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. You’re going to be in BIG trouble.”

Katia’s warning turned out to have merit. I did get into trouble for using this sacred drawer.

Had I not been in the middle of this focus project, I may have admitted my wife to a mental institution. Instead, we sat down and discussed it. For her, the act of having at least one empty drawer in the kitchen meant she wasn’t just constantly adding stuff. Not just to the kitchen, but adding junk to her life. The empty drawer was symbolic for her. Since I was deep into researching the power of less, this made sense to me (either that, or we were both crazy). She did compromise a little by switching the designated “empty drawer” to be the smallest one instead of the largest.

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