You know those people who have perfectly ordered drawers?
Don’t worry. I dislike them also.
I have to be honest though. I think I’ve always been a little bit jealous.
Again, don’t worry. I know you understand.
A few months ago, I decided to become one of those people.
I’m a little nervous now. Are we still friends?
It’s okay. I’ve still got the ubiqutious ‘junk drawer’; it just now resembles a drawer belonging to the Ordered Drawer Brigade. I cleaned it up. I had to.
It resembled my cartoon below.
I’m guessing that if you’re an expat, you’ll also recognise the drawer of travel adaptors, plugs, cables.
When I’m unable to travel, they’re my lifeline to the outside world – a comfort blanket with the following words sewn in: Travel is always possible if you have the adptors, plugs and cables.
I’m reminded of a massive safety pin/nappy pin. The cheeky side of me wants to say, ‘It all goes to shit if you don’t use one’, but I’m not that rude.
But the adaptor and plugs ARE like the safety pin that I use to store my other safety pins.
They all fit together, but it’s not quite how you’re meant to use them.
The travel adaptor drawer is the same.
Numerous plugs and cables looking like they all go together, but each having a very particular purpose that is only effective when fitted correctly.
But all is not lost.
Stillness and Order
I think the travel adaptor/plug/cable drawer allows us to create order in our life.
In the chaos of the mess, a stillness arrives.
Each travel adaptor releases a memory of a holiday to another country or the 2 years you lived elsewhere. I even remember hotel rooms in which they featured or cafes I’ve worked in and had to rush back to to collect the plug I accidentally left in the wall.
Each of these plugs and adaptors act as a key to unlock my memories. Memories that connect me to my soul food: Travel and Connection.
Soul Food: Travel and Connection
It may sound unusual to read so much into the travel adaptor drawer, but I find objects especially powerful for deciphering the intangible – That stuff we know in our gut but can’t quite verbalise. It’s hidden, it’s within us and it’s where we make meaning.
So it seems that the humble travel adaptor is quite powerful after all. Even when it’s been used within an inch of its life and we think it’s not connecting to the power source, it works mighty fine. Have you considered connecting it to its other power source?
YOU.
Yes, by all means buy another adaptor to operate your iPad, but use the other one as a key. Turn the lock and revisit your memories. You might find that the crappy adaptor that barely ever worked, now makes you envious of the time you shared.
Now, if it would just f*****g fit into the wall.
