My calendar, is, without doubt, my best friend. Unless what it really is, is a dreaded task-masker! Whether I say “ugh” when I look at it, or derive a sense of peace from knowing that my life is all laid out before me, depends on the day, or the season of life.
As I wrap my mind around a new fall schedule, I am reminded of why I struggle to do so: I belong to a family. Our lives are bound together not only by familial ties, but by our calendar.
Look at us all dressed up.
The only reason we knew to do that was because it was on the calendar. If it hadn’t been on the calendar we would have missed this important family event. Except we wouldn’t have. Because my mother-in-law would have called us. Since it was on her calendar. Here we are back at someone’s calendar!
She has hers on the front of her refrigerator.
One month at a time. Then she throws it away. At least that is what I always assumed. Somehow I think she may actually keep them. She files everything.
Looking back at an old calendar is looking back at ourselves.
It is a look back at our parties, our doctor’s appointments, our classes, our lives broken down into blocks of time. Even better is to keep a journal so we can look back at our thoughts and feelings about the people and events those blocks of time only hint at.
Yet, if we keep all of our old calendars, journals, planners, etc. we are told we have too much clutter and need to throw them away. They do not hold joy. They may not hold joy, baby, but they hold the blood, sweat, and tear stains of my life’s scheduling struggles! These pages represent my life, and I’ll keep them if I want to!
Should I throw it away?
Sometimes it’s nice to throw away my calendar, or at least hide it somewhere so I can pretend to not know my life exists. That’s how it can feel sometimes, that I have no life outside of what is scheduled and accounted for. But if I didn’t look at my calendar, I might miss our family glamping trip that’s coming up. In order not to miss it, I would have to mark down the days left until we leave, and cross off each day as it passes, so I would know which day our vacation begins. There has got to be an easier way. Oh yeah, a calendar.
