new year, new stuff.

lessons in welcoming it in.

I am aware that not everyone has a strong desire for order and tidiness in the New Year. (Or ever.) That there are folks unplagued by overwhelm in regards to material possessions, is a fact I understand intellectually to be true, even if I can’t fully fathom it. Needless to say, I am not one such person. You likely know this, which is why you’re reading, and thank goodness. (Material overwhelm loves company.) Holidays especially, with their sudden influx of new belongings, can be a challenge for me. No matter how modest the pile under the tree might have seemed on Christmas Eve, I’m always mildly surprised by the work it takes to get things back in order post-inundation.

For Christmas, James and I bought our family a portable keyboard. Having it has been delightful. I’ve already realized that despite my general lack of musical discipline, I can still manage to plonk out the rendition of Oh, Holy Night that I very reluctantly practiced at 12. Faye has nailed Mary Had a Little Lamb. There’s little doubt that from inside his oversized headphones, Silas is well on his way toward becoming the next Keith Jarret. The shoulder movements indicate as much, anyway. In short, the keyboard has been lovely to have, a bit of a revelation, and a real win of a Christmas present.

But a keyboard, even a relatively small and innocuous-looking one, is still a new thing to reckon with. Finding final landing places for new items in an apartment already filled with five people, to say nothing of entire socks full of trinkets, is not always obvious. But after a lifetime of living with my brain, I’ve realized that there are a few things that makes welcoming new items easier for me to manage. Maybe they’ll work for some of you, too: