stories i could tell.

this was not the blog i intended on publishing today. i had another one all lined up and ready to go about a vintage stapler that i found, fell in love with and bought. oh well. next time.

i’ve had a real clusterfuck of a week. to clear my mind and try to get a little bit of goddamned perspective, i–you guessed it–went on a little thrift adventure to one of my favorite thrift stores, where hipsters looking for cool shit are outnumbered by real people just trying to find good, cheap clothes for their kids. it’s my kind of place and i find it comforting being there, amongst it all.

as i was strolling down the last aisle, i saw out of the corner of my eye a knick knack thingy that literally took my breath away. like, i stopped breathing for a second or two. i walked in seeming slow motion to it and realized that it was the exact knick knack thingy that my mother had in our house when i was a child. naturecraft, from england, worth about $50. tears. more tears. and then a smile. look at the universe talking to me. (sometimes, all we must do is listen-) it’s of an old man playing the piano. he is obviously homeless, but he has his piano, he is playing and he is happy; cat crawling on him, holes in his shoes, happy. as a scrawny little towhead of a kid growing up in f-l-a, i had no brothers, no sisters – just me. i made up a lot of stories in my youth to keep myself preoccupied, to get through some lonely, only child moments and to fill a little time. this particular collectible was one of those things that made my imagination run wild. who was this man? did he have a family? was he without a home? how did he feed his cat!? as adults we make up stories, too. about our lives, about the lives of others. we tell ourselves what we think we need to hear to make things better. we embellish, we lie to ourselves, we hope we can believe our own bullshit to get through the day. well, today, dear readers, i am sick of the stories i have been telling myself. i want the truth. i want to live in the moment, i want to speak from my heart and i want others to do the same. time’s running out. speak the truth. stop the storytelling. be honest. it’s all we’ve got. are you in?

©littlebrownbutterfly