Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Slippery Slope

It starts innocently enough...a book here and a cuppa there. No biggie right?
But soon enough a clothespin, a clipboard, and some paper scraps show up and join the party. 
Before you know it surfaces disappear, piles grow to record heights, and dust bunnies start to breed.
This has been my July
and
I seem to be stuck.
 
Case in point, my book of the month is once again by Elizabeth Orton Jones. I did everything I could to push myself forward in another direction but honestly this book so perfectly illustrated my current situation I felt it was important for me to include it here. Bear with me if you will while I explain....
   
Big Susan is the story of a family of dolls that live their day to day by the hands and imagination of their child owner, Susan. All is well when they receive their  daily dose of attention from her.    But...when Susan's world keeps her otherwise occupied things start to fall apart. Aside from a few magical hours on Christmas Eve when the Doll family comes to life they are totally dependent on Susan. Without her they cannot walk or talk, they cannot eat or sleep, and they cannot keep house.
They are stuck.
 
In the book six long weeks of neglect pass.
Susan is nowhere to be found and by the time Christmas Eve arrives the dollhouse is a jumble of clutter and dust. 
 
Their initial tears and distress over Susan's disappearance soon fade however and are replaced with inspiration. Rather than continue waiting for Susan to do for them they decide to use their few hours of life to do for her and tidy up the house as a Christmas surprise.
 
Clutter, dust, neglect, distress....
Just like the Doll family I've had enough of them.
No "Big Susan" is coming my way to set things right and Christmas Eve is a ways away but I see no reason why I can't find a few magical hours in my daily life to remedy the situation. And perhaps even a few more daily moments to track my progress along the way.