“A bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils” is a line from the movie You’ve Got Mail, describing the feeling of Fall. It is one of my favorite lines, and I think about it often at the beginning of a school year - and truthfully may prefer it to a bouquet of flowers.
What is it about new school supplies anyway? Can you relate? Most of us reading this today are not students, or going back to school. Many of us may be parents shepherding our kids back to school or off to college, and many of us are not. But, what is the promise of a new pack of pens, freshly sharpened pencils, or a neat new stack of post-it notes? What do they hold?
I have a theory. I think it is the promise of a fresh start.
Don’t we all need a fresh start sometimes?
I really believe myself when I am standing in the aisle at Target, surveying all the beautiful crisp planners and journals, that I need at least one, and that I will actually use it. Something about the lack of crumbs smashed into the covers, or the lack wrinkled pages, makes me feel like I can do anything - or at least my own life. Some of you may feel that way in the organization aisles (same), or in the kitchen section at Home Goods, or when buying a new candle. The tool, the thing, however small, may unlock what we need in order to feel how we want to feel - less overwhelmed and more equipped.
Embedded in the allure of a fresh scent in your space, or a re-organized junk drawer, or a new highlighter is that we can start over - that we can start again. We feel a need for a re-sharpening (pun intended) in our lives.
My inclination is to be cynical with myself and my desire for new pens, and maybe yours is too. But it is these moments of “new school supplies” that helped us restart as children that I think we rightly long for and still need as adults. We rarely have restart moments as adults, right? And I think they are healthy and helpful. I think they are natural. And I believe we often deny ourselves these small moments to refresh our weary hearts. We need to know, and experience, that we can begin again when our hearts and energy are low.
Maybe it is a bouquet of flowers for you, maybe it is a bouquet of pencils, or simply cleaning out your purse or backpack. Whatever it is, follow the feeling with curiosity. What you want can illuminate what you need, and can show you where you are. And what you long for in these small ways can lead you to a small re-start that can refresh your weary heart. We underestimate these small things. Re-starts don’t have to be big.
I believe these small refreshers can help put down the breadcrumbs to finding our way forward - to feeling better in a hard day or week, or just feeling more like ourselves.
You deserve a re-start.
You can start again. Even now. Even here. In the smallest way.
Buy the flowers, clean out the drawer, wipe down the surfaces of your life and heart.
Starting again with you, and I did buy that new planner,
Monica
Things to share:
I enjoyed this conversation about the benefits of slowing down in our overwhelming lives, and what are the signs that we need to slow down?
You know I love this topic…we discussed about self-worth AND self-love, how to cultivate each, and how both are beneficial for healing anxiety.
Finally, a new series I wrote for Iridescent Women…What I’ve Learned as a Therapist. From Part 1: “So simplicity, and simple truths, are a double edged sword. Over and over again in my therapy work I run into the undeniable power of simple truths, and the potential harm of oversimplifying an experience. The simplest of things are annoyingly needed to help us each day, and there isn’t a shortcut around how much we need to practice self and relational care. But, we are also each beautifully complex. And oversimplifying what we are going through into a quick summary or easy solve doesn’t honor that complexity.”
This coincided nicely with my attempts at getting our budget ready for the new month. The new app I’m learning to use has a fresh start button! Yay! Because last month’s budget was way too complicated!! We need fresh starts!