The Truth About Pillows

 At what point in your life did you realize pictures of beds piled with lots of beautiful pillows was not going to cut it at your house?

It looks beautiful in the pictures but in real life it takes time to take them off every night, pile them someplace where you won’t trip over them if you get up during the night and replace ever so artfully every morning.  Who has the time?  Who wants to take the time?  And if you’re a man, at what point in the previous words did you think, “What pillows?”

We can move on to decorative pillows on couches and chairs:  they’re sold by the thousands for way more than that little scrap of material is worth.  The first thing that happens if you have children is they are used on the floor for tumbling, making a fort or hitting a sibling.  When adults come to play, the first thing is they are removed to the floor, stuck behind the couch or squished to the point of ruining the shape. 

Don’t get me wrong; I bought into the whole pillows marketing hype.  I love the splashes of color and the beautiful fabrics.  And then I got real!  Except for a few favorites, my pillows have gone to my local Salvation Army for some innocent homeowner to start his or her own pillow fantasy.

All parts of our lives have “pillow examples.”  And as we start to drag decorative stuff out into our gardens, balance how much we L.O.V.E. it against how much work we’re adding to our already busy lives. 

I listened to a story the other day that asked, “Is our new mantra busyness?”  Is the banner we carry all about how busy we are?  Do we somehow feel it validates us as a person?  Think about:

How many things in your home suck time from your life for no good reason?  Think pillows!

When someone asks, “How are you?” do you start your endless list of all the things you are doing?

If your children are left with an evening or weekend where nothing is planned, do they get fussy “because there’s nothing to do?”

Do you have so many beds of flowers that you must maintain them instead of enjoying them?

Do you feel you must fulfill every whim and fancy your aging parents decide they want and when they want?

Do your children know how to fill up time with their own imagination rather than have it manufactured with scheduled events or outside stimulation?

Do you consider reading or watching nature only something to be squeezed in when everything else is done?

Do you never quite have time to fit phoning, visiting or helping others into your schedule? 

If you do fit a call, visit or help into your schedule is the time you allot about your schedule or what the other person needs?

Does busyness make you feel important?  Does it validate that you’re needed? Things wouldn’t get done without you?  No one will be happy without what you do?  Do you think it makes you a good person?

Granted, some folks could use a little more commitment to getting busy.  Busyness isn’t about taking care of family, the home or your job.  I’m talking about all the self-imposed stuff we put upon ourselves that isn’t needed and sometimes isn’t even wanted by others. 

This summer think about what you can eliminate from your busyness.  Whether it’s pillows, a new garden bed, Sally’s tumbling or Johnny’s T-ball - think it through.  Will you be better rested for all the pillows?  Will Sally and Johnny need all these things to be successful adults?  Do you need to go to grandchildren’s every event or their life will be warped?  If it’s “no” to these or things on your own list – think about change.  Busyness for busyness sake is much too busy for a busy person.