So I’m a big fan of recycling and upcycling. Being a bit of a gypsy these last few years has had me focusing a lot on streamlining my belongings to make for easier moves. With my latest move I decided it was time to upgrade my desk to something smaller and more practical… and definitely lighter, than this beautiful wooden one I’ve been hauling around all over the countryside. As much as I love it, this last year especially, has been a big one on me becoming brave enough and willing to let go of the lifestyle I have always identified with, and learning to accept where I am right here and now. In the physical, that has looked a lot like letting go of my kayak, bike, surf board, home-y stuff, sentimental stuff, and things I’m just tired of lugging from place to place with the hopes of “getting back to where I once was.” It has been difficult. And at times heartbreaking… or more aptly, re-heartbreaking. Especially because it’s what defined me as an adult and was the happiest time of my life. All I wanted was to recreate it in a healthier way. But I have slowly come to accept that change doesn’t work that way.
And yet sometimes, just sometimes… it can surprise us in the best ways…
Being in lockdown as a close-contact yet again, has had me bored out of my brain sitting at home (and harassing people in chat with my incessant talking). As much as it has actually brought me back to books again, my lifelong passion, it has been a bit of a struggle. One night I decided to look for things I need to update, to fit better the lifestyle I live now. Having been looking for a desk for a while, I knew exactly what I wanted as I had narrowed down what would fit me best, over time. There has been no rush. Even though many of them had popped up, none were quite right. Either priced too high or too far to travel.
Until the other night. There it was. The desk. Not quite how I had envisaged… but if I was willing to overlook my expectations and accept it as is… it was free! I checked the small print to make sure, and yep, it surely was free. “It will be gone already,” I thought to myself. Nothing that good stays available for long. But I sent a message anyway, and asked if it was still available, if I could come and have a look. She replied that I could! It was still available! So I organised to go look. I was due to do a RAT test to come out of lockdown, so I did that and it was negative. Phew. And that morning my housemate did one that came back negative too! We were free! Yay! So, it was organised. The next day I would go with a friend (potential lifting power 😁) to have a look.
Now when I say this desk wasn’t quite what I was expecting… hmm 🤔…
it’s a study desk. Very practical by design. A big drawer, a small drawer, and storage shelves with a cabinet door. Perfect for me. Generally white, as sold. Well, this had been a children’s desk. It was pink and white, and her daughter had decorated it. I could see something sparkly on the surface of the top in the pictures advertised, but couldn’t make out what. “You know what? I thought, “I’m just gonna have a look. If it’s not right, no harm done.” So, off we went.
The moment I laid eyes on it I knew it was mine 😊 not only is it pink and white, the top is done with sparkly sloths. Lol. The irony. One of my spirit animals. Needless to say, it came home with me.
As I sat here fixing little things here and there and tidying it up, pulling a few random stickers off here and there, something I hadn’t noticed before jumped out. I laughed out loud! Written on the drawer, with perfect grammar, ‘Hi, I’m Chicken Nugget.’ Perfect. This is my new desk, to match my new life. And I love it 😁
