Messy and Meaningful
Messes. It seems like there is always one that needs to be cleaned up. I have been using my son’s nap time to do as much cleaning as I possibly can before he wakes up. But today was different. He is teething and had his round of 6 month vaccines a few days ago, so he has not been feeling great. After lots of tears and fussiness during nap time because he was super tired but too uncomfortable to easily fall asleep, he finally did… in my arms while I was rocking him in the rocking chair in his nursery to comfort him.
My first instinct once I heard his soft snores, which confirmed that he was truly asleep, was to get up and try to place him in the crib and start rushing around to get more cleaning done. But then, before standing up from the chair, I stopped.
A small thought came to my mind, and it stuck. “The messes will always be there, but this moment won’t.” I leaned back in my rocking chair and continued slowly rocking him as I reflected on how sweet the moment was and how I hope to always be a safe source of comfort for him in his life.
This got me thinking of all the beauty that exists in the messes of life.
Not much beauty may be seen at first glance of some of the messes currently existing in my life: the mismatched messy outfits (sometimes covered in spit-up), messy moods, messy hair, messy toys on the floor, messy kitchen, etc… But there is so much beauty in the family time spent, in watching my son explore the world around him, in hearing his loud giggles and seeing the big smiles on his face when he discovers people, places, food, and toys that he likes, and in laughing with my husband at some of the crazy things we do because sometimes the exhaustion we feel as new parents impacts our sanity more than others.
So much joy, so many laughs, so much goodness exists IN the mess. So, why am I so quick to try to run OUT of it? Maybe instead of racing to get out, it’s time
to start embracing that messes are part of the journey. Don’t get me wrong, the messes will eventually (sooner rather than later) be addressed and cleaned up, because staying stuck in the same mess forever isn’t productive or healthy either.
But trying to run out of messes is like running a race with no actual finish line, because there will always be some sort of mess that exists in this messy world. All that to say, something I learned today that I am hoping can encourage someone else too, is that maybe instead of running out of or from the messes of life, it’s better to walk THROUGH them. Because maybe then we can laugh in them and learn from them, and experience the beauty IN them, which personally, sounds like a much healthier and better option to me.
