Two days ago, I noticed a used couch in the alley. The unsightly object was an eye sore, awaiting pick up by the garbage man--or some desperate soul in need of some furniture. That same day, while doing laundry in my building, I bumped into my old roommate, who (as I came to find out), was moving out of the unit where I had once lived with her. She told me how the unit is being renovated, that the kitchen was already done. I accepted her invite to see it, and embraced the familiarity of the apartment as I walked down the hallway. On my way out, I stopped to look at my old bedroom, appearing exactly the way I had left it. Empty of the people and moments that it once consumed. The orange walls I had painted, Candied Yam to be specific, would soon be covered with fresh paint and wall hangings.
It was the next day, that I took a second look at the still-there eye sore of a couch, and realized it was the one that had been in that apartment for the three years I lived there. A wave of sadness passed through me and while I went to dismiss it, I asked myself why. Why NOT be sentimental over a couch? Why not reminisce on the past and *appreciate the progress* I've made in my life since sitting on its mismatched cushions, wishing it wasn't so small and could accommodate my long legs.
How often do we dismiss feelings and detach from people, places and things? Do we dismiss the progress we have made because we're pressured to work harder, move faster, and crush goals? Stay focused on where you are heading but remember to appreciate where you are and where you have been. Embrace the people, places and things (even an unsightly couch!) that have contributed to your life and brought you to the place you are now. It's this reflection that will help shape our future and give us the confidence, courage, and determination to create it. Stay sentimental.
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