Ode to a bowl
No, not that kind of bowl – get your mind out of the pipe.
I’ve been having a really hard time finding topics to write about here, in case you hadn’t noticed the +- week long gaps between posts. There’s probably a good reason for this block, but I’m just not up for rallying a posse to go out searching for it. Right now my day are filled with meditating, walking around town, reading, writing (mostly for myself obviously), and watching movies. This is nice, don’t get me wrong, but I’m the sort of person where once I have a goal or target I want to be able to get to work. I don’t like being in a holding pattern. And that’s where I am right now. So I’ll apologize now for the long gaps and promise that once I’m stateside and making concrete progress I’ll get the posts to a suitable level.
Now for that bowl -
Years ago, I think about a decade now, I picked up this really cool glazed pottery bowl from a vendor at a fair. It was sized perfectly for pretty much whatever I wanted to put in it (generally whatever soup I whipped up for dinner). This bowl came with me when I moved into the city from the ‘burbs and it made the cut again when I purged in anticipation of my move/sabbatical. I’ve been using it pretty much daily for the time I’ve been here. I even made a rule with my roommates, if they found a pottery bowl or cup (I brought a couple of them too) they knew not to touch it.
That bowl broke today.
As it slipped out of my hands while I was washing it (after really enjoying my fried cabbage and broccoli) I was initially horrified. Now that may have been partly because I’m out of band-aids and didn’t want to cut myself – but I’m choosing to think it was because of the history I have with that bowl. Then as I looked at the pieces sitting in the sink, surrounded by the detritus of my lunch and the soapy water I had another simplicity epiphany:
It’s just a bowl.
And just as the word ‘bowl’ was forming in my mind, the anxiety melted away. And I felt fine as I collected the pieces and placed them in the bin. What you can’t know is the major progress this reaction signifies. On so many levels. From the obvious – I was able to see it as a thing, detached from the emotional connections of having been with me for 10+ years – to the less obvious: I have been quite stressed out for months now and would until recently have had a breakdown at the site of that broken bowl. I’ve been so on edge that breaking a bowl would quite easily have sent me tumbling.
What this tells me is that my shifting towards a simpler life, where one component is detachment from STUFF, is indeed the right direction for me to be going. It also tells me that I’m going to need a new bowl, but that’s for a different post.
Anyone out there have stories of Simplicity Epiphanies? I’d love to hear them in the comments, and I promise I’ll be present and respond to comments in a timely manner!
Everyone has blocks, so that’s totally understandable! Glad to see your post today, though.
My own Simplicity Epiphany came when I got into an accident with my car. During an icy ride home, I ran into a curb and destroyed my left wheel. Since I’m pretty attached to my car (whose name is Eddie), I was devastated. My mechanic told me it’d be a week, at least, before repairs were complete. I wound up renting a car in the meanwhile, realizing there isn’t any *thing* that can’t be replaced, if necessary. I’m still attached to Eddie, since we take a lot of road trips together, but I’ve learned that he’s “just a car”.
Shortly after my bump into the curb, I wound up redesigning my kitchen. By redesigning, I actually mean purging! I’ve been wanting to slim my kitchen down, especially with moving in 2 months, but I was afraid of letting go of items that most people consider “essential”. Being able to detach myself from my car, I found inspiration to donate/sell all of my kitchen appliances, dishes, silverware – except that which I need for making my favorite sandwiches and other antipasto items. It was easier to do this when I knew, if I really wanted to, I could replace everything at the Target down the road. So far, I haven’t replaced anything. I haven’t cooked in 4 months and I’ve never been happier! And I love the fact that my kitchen cupboards are empty. For me, emptiness is so zen.
Good luck finding another bowl!
Thanks for sharing Sunny! I guess I’m lucky that in umpteen years driving I’ve never been in a serious accident. There was the time I was sued, but that’s a long story that requires alcohol to properly retell.
Oh, and I’m not sure I’m going to replace that bowl anytime soon. I’ve got access to others for the forseeable future. Maybe once I’m in your neck of the mountains you can show me to the nearest crafts fair!
It seems my accidents always occur with standing objects, so in that regard I’ve been lucky!
I’d be delighted to show you great places for pottery. There are many corners of Denver that have great – and cheap – artsy crafts. Yet another reason that you should come out this way
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