Saturday, October 01, 2005
The China Cabinet
It wasn't really a China Cabinet. It was more like a China catch-all, a bookshelf and a kitty-cat climbing tree, all in one very tall, slender piece of ancient furniture. This drawing was made on a "special" day--that being one of those rare moments when I had recently "organized" it.
The china was given to me as a gift by a group of ladies that were very pleased that I had converted to Islam. Every time I used it, I was reminded of my choice, and blessed by the beautiful veiled women who taught me what they were able to teach me. (I, of course, am a very difficult student.) A set of twelve, with various and sundry "extras", including twelve tiny Turkish coffee cups and matching saucers, it is currently packed away and stored in Karim's family's home awaiting our return.
The strange plant-like object to the left of the tea-pot is the top portion of a vase of silk flowers that was placed on the table in front of the cabinet.
Most days, this set of shelves looked a little more like it had been ransacked by thieves. Divers papers littered the bottom, mixed in with ragged books and folders from school, topped by the occasional pile of paid bills. One or two shelves would hold computer cords, earphones and batteries that had been placed there simply to clear the table in the event of dinner, which was a daily occurance, and which required the use of the entire six seat table during the time that Karim's father was living with us. During Ramadan, (which by the way begins tuesday), every available space was taken on the table, so nothing could possibly be pushed to the other end. It had to go on the shelves. A mish-mosh of handleless mugs littered one shelf and contained no less than twenty five half sharpened pencils and myriads of ink-weakened pens. There were light bulbs, notes to myself that had been largely ignored or forgotten, ash trays, knick-knacks left behind by previous tenants, balls of string and tea candles. There were also envelopes of photographs, rolls of undeveloped film, and packets of negatives, thrown together in the bottom right corner cubby. Stashed behind the cabinet were several sheets of poster board and construction paper in blue and white, one of which had been a "cue card" for one of the schools plays and contained the word "Rome" in white pencil, and embellished with grapevines.
I learned a lot about organization from the cabinet. Things around here still pile up, especially when I work overtime, but they eventually get fixed back up to normal. The cabinet taught me how to "save space" and utilize every available inch. Sometimes even tastefully. It taught me that I don't need a three thousand dollar piece of furniture to hold my "junk", and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Naturally, I prefer to remember it clean and spiffy, but I still remember the clutter, and each piece of that clutter seems to hold something important for me. There was always a reason for it. And there was always sweet relief when it was put in order.
