A Missing Sock in an Orderly World
Items don’t get lost very often in a minimalist, highly organized, solo household 🙂
So when on a Saturday morning a few months ago while sorting and folding my warm, delightfully fresh-smelling laundry, I noticed that one of my white socks was missing, of COURSE, a look of dismay quickly spread across my face.
“What?” I said aloud. “How can this be?”
I bent down and checked under the bed. Not there.
I pulled open my sock drawer and rummaged among its comrades. Not there.
I went down to the laundry room and checked inside the washer and dryer. Not there!
Now at this point, perhaps a gloriously even-tempered person would have simply shrugged it off and moved on with their life.
…that is not what I did.
Instead, I opted to spend the next half hour maniacally searching every place I could think of where that darn sock might be.
I traced my steps back to the dryer in case it had fallen from the laundry basket on my way upstairs.
I looked in between and behind my washer and dryer.
Embarrassingly, I even shook out all my sweatshirts in case that sock got stuck in a sleeve!
No dice, no dice, no dice was all I got.
Reluctantly, and quite frustratingly, I surrendered.
“I give you, oh missing sock, to the universe!” I proclaimed loudly to a completely empty room. “You can decide whether or not to return to me – and either way, I’ll be OK.”
And with that, I placed that lonely single sock in my top drawer, and about five minutes later, just like that aforementioned gloriously even-tempered person, I forgot about the whole thing and moved on with my life.
The Grand Tease
A few weeks later, while once again folding laundry on a Saturday morning, I chuckled as I thought “Wouldn’t it be funny if that sock magically appeared in this load?” I pulled every white sock from that heap of clothes and began folding them one pair at a time. I came to the end and – what is this? – a single sock! The sock had surfaced!
I quite literally jumped for joy.
UNTIL … wait. When I picked up the empty laundry basket to head back downstairs, I saw yet another single white sock laying there. Sigh. I hadn’t found the missing sock after all.
Perhaps this was the key pivotal moment when I truly let go. When I decided that life is far too short to waste one’s time or energy pining over some sock (albeit a very soft and comfortable one).
Together Again (and it Feels So Good)
Ironically (or perhaps quite fittingly), it wasn’t until I hadn’t thought about that sock for weeks on end that it finally did surface.
One day, pulling a dress out of one of my mesh bags for delicates post-wash, I saw a white sock fall on the floor.
I clapped my hands and let out a big belly laugh.
The sock had returned to me after all.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Is there a lesson to be learned from this epic sock tale of lost and found?
I believe that there is.
Sometimes when we give up the search and simply surrender – that is, trust that this thing will find its way to us at the right time and/or trust that if it does NOT make its way to us, we’ll be just fine as we are – things have a way of resolving on their own.
Is there something in your life that you’ve been desperately searching for – perhaps even maniacally as I was?
Who knows for sure, but you might experiment with loosening or even letting go of your fierce grip on that thing which you seek. Things may have a way of resolving on their own, and that thing may even find its way to you after all.
If nothing else, you’ll probably feel a whole lot better 🙂
<3
Janelle
