Five Things on Friday - Everyone Needs Edition

I've been spending a fair amount of time analyzing the stuff in my life. From redecorating my room to purging the junk from my closet, I'm trying to be fair and honest with myself about who I am, how I live, what I need and what I don't need.

As a third generation pack-rat, this is an ongoing battle.

In any case, I'm still just getting started, but already I have determined there are a handful of things that everyone, everywhere needs. I thought I'd share:

Five Things You Absolutely Must Have:


1. A Junk Drawer - This is not sarcasm. There are just things in your life that don't go anywhere. Twist ties. Leftover birthday candles. Screws that you can't quite remember what they go to. The extra night light bulbs. I started out with about six junk drawers and I'm down to two. Hopefully, this weekend, I'm going to get down to one. We'll see. I'll never be without, though. That's just crazy talk.

2. Something Ridiculous - I used to work in the local arts community. At a show, on an impulse, I bought a small, unframed print of a photo of fake flowers in a broken pot on a grave. (I'm not sure there's a grave, it just has that vibe.) I call it the Grave Flowers Print and I've had it in an envelope ever since. Because where does one hang a print of grave flowers? But the thing is, I love it. It's really kind of lovely, and you can't help but wonder what's going on there anyway. I may never find a place to hang this lovely little gem, but I'll never get rid of it, either. It's ridiculous to keep, but it's continued presence in my life reminds me that I have a life. A weird, quirky little life all my own.

This is not my Buffy lunchbox.
I couldn't find my Buffy lunchbox.
But how cool is this one?

3. Something Everyone but You Hates - Listen, I'm all about compromise. If you have a wagon wheel table and your significant other hates your wagon wheel table and you don't really, really love your wagon wheel table, you should consider getting rid of your wagon wheel table. I mean, it's only nice. If, on the other hand, you have a miniature Buffy the Vampire Slayer lunchbox and your significant other thinks it's a waste of space and your kids find it sort of creepy because Spike is juuuust about to bite Buffy's neck, but you really, really love said tiny lunchbox. Then you shouldn't show it to your kids before bedtime.

4. A Sock Basket - Years ago, I dumped out a small metal basket and shoved mismatched socks in it. It was supposed to be a temporary solution. I would find all the mates I could, throw away what was left and live happily ever after. I still have it. I moved it from one house to another. Just in case there were singleton socks tucked away in something else. I get it out every time I wash whites. And on the mornings when we are out of matched socks. Sometimes, I still think it's temporary. I throw out the socks that won't fit anyone even if I find their mates and the ones that I haven't seen in years and I decide that as soon as everything's matched up - that's it. No more sock basket. It's all a pipe dream. A dirty, dirty scam I play on myself. There will always be a sock basket. At least until I give up and decide to just go barefoot.

5. A Mess - It is my firm belief that if every inch of your house is clean, there is something wrong with you. Be it too much time, OCD or a desperate need to throw everyone off of your dead body collection in the shed, there is something wrong. Every house needs a spot where we all just accept that it's going to be a mess. A closet, under a bed, a corner or the basement, whatever. Accept your mess and move on. It's the only way to survive.

What do you think everyone needs?