Do any of you out there collect things, purchase things, ask for things, only to store them away in a closet or drawer for a day you imagine will be special enough to deem them worthy of use? Case in point: my collection of handmade soaps, beautiful bath gels and loofahs, body lotions, and more. I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to this stuff because I’m always waiting for some magic moment when all the planets will align and I will know for certain that THIS is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice, and use special soaps!
But that day never seems to arrive. I have drawers filled with soaps of every scent and shape. I have a cabinet filled with moisturizers and foot scrubs, bath bubbles, and candles. Let’s not forget the candles (see below). I’ve been carting some around for more than a decade. That’s not just frugal; that’s crazy. I’m sure any scent these candles and soaps had have long since given up the ghost.
Just recently I was buying soaps for someone on my Christmas shopping list, and the soap artisan (if that’s the proper term) informed me, when I mentioned my fear of using good soap, that anything more than a year old is probably not worth using. What?!?! But I’ve been so good about saving and not squandering my soap. Now I find out it was all for nought? I brought soaps back from Subiaco, Italy — made by the monks of St. Benedict’s Monastery — more than two years ago. Not only do they remain unopened; they are still in the brown bag from the gift shop, stuffed in a dresser drawer. Carrot soap and olive oil soap, now with no more pizazz than something I could pick up in the local Dollar Store.
So…I have decided to start using all these goodies. And when I finally work my way through my stash, I’m going to replenish, unwrap, and repeat. I’ve already lathered up with an awesome handmade Nag Champa-scented vegan soap in total defiance of my otherwise ordinary life. I have declared that every day will be special enough for scented soaps, and I’m slowly working up the nerve to take that same approach with my other body products and candles. Just look at that pile of rapidly deteriorating luxuriousness. What am I waiting for? I may start showering twice a day just to use this stuff while it still has a scent.
What is it that you love to have around but push to the back of your closet or drawers, hoping for a magic moment when you feel worthy? Get it out today, now, and revel in the wonder that is you.