My brother, Stan, and his son, Kent, are visiting me in New York. I'm very excited about showing them around and introducing Kent to what real pizza and bagels are supposed to taste like. This also gives me an excuse to clean and organize like a crazy person. I'm going through closets and cabinets, throwing away or rearranging everything except the junk drawer. I refuse to even look at it. Yes, I'm sure there are things in there that don't need to live there anymore, but I can't do it. The mystery of those objects is beyond me. As far as I'm concerned, that drawer leads to another dimension that will trap me for days on end as I try to figure out what purpose these thing-a-ma-gigs are for.
Everyone I know has a specific space or drawer where we throw in odds and ends, thinking at some point the Universe will tell us the reason for their existence. But, of course, we can't possibly throw any of it away as we wait for that glorious day when we finally know the answer. I confess that I have made the horrible mistake of discarding an alien object just to have its use revealed the next day, and I had to go and buy a new one.
There are days when I feel like the junk drawer. I'm housing all kinds of knowledge and experiences I believe will one day be helpful to others. It's finding the right course of action and implementing a plan that will be the most effective. Being able to speak one-on-one or in front of a large audience is gratifying when I know I can share what I've learned. Live events are still slow to come back in this age of an ongoing pandemic. I know there are other paths to take, but sometimes deciding which route will be the best feels overwhelming.
We have so many opportunities to get in front of people with our message that it's not always easy to decide which medium is the best. Do I write a book? Do I do a podcast? Do I make a Tik-Tok video? Ok, definitely not the last one. I don't have anything against Tik-Tok, but that feels like a whole other realm I'm not ready to tackle. I've done my presentations virtually, but it doesn't come close to being with people in person. I think that's what's been hard for me to try other means of communication when I don't have the response and energy from a live audience.
I know I'll adapt and find the right course to achieve my goals and continue my work of helping others find their voice and raise their self-esteem in the process. I'm a big believer that my existence in this junk drawer has a reason and purpose that will be shown to me when I least expect it. I'm hoping that when that day comes, I didn't throw out the one story that will change everyone's life for the better and have to go out and buy another one. If anything else, I can still guide people to enhance their reality by showing them where to have the best pizza and bagels New York has to offer.