My House May Not Be Fancy...But

 Hi!

Home.

It's so incredibly different for everyone. None are the same.

Oh, they might look similar, decor coming from the same factories, designs mass produced to appease the masses. Some look like they could be featured in magazines without a bit of notice, while others would need a minute to toss their lives into closets to make things "presentable."

Mine lingers in a purgatory of sorts. It definitely is always magazine-ready... it would simply depend on the day and the type of magazine. Think of it as a combination photo shoot... Good Housekeeping with a healthy dose of DIY Gone Not Quite Right and a sprinkle of This Is The Chaos Of The Week. Okay, I know that not all of those are real magazines, but maybe they should be. 

No, my house may not be fancy. Far from it, but it will always be welcoming, warm, safe for all, full of love, acceptance, and hugs that will hold until you're ready to break them. Within its walls are always shoulders wide and strong enough to cry on and carry the weight of your every truth, and laughter, enough laughter to lift the heaviest of clouds, even if only for a while. 

No, my house may not be fancy, but there will always be something homemade to snack on, a ton of fridge-worthy art to appreciate, and home decor made by small, inexperienced fingers. 

Home should never be taken for granted.

Too many have been forced out of theirs by storms, fire, war, rejection, and abuse to assume that all of us have choices as to where we lay our head.

So many are simply doing their best with the circumstances they are given. When decisions have to be made between paying an electric bill and groceries, when you have to say no for the millionth time to your kids for no other reason than the money is just not there, when the very basics to live are unattainable all at the same time, a lamp from Pier 1, because it's the new 'it' thing, doesn't even register on the radar of needs.

So, if you are invited into someone's home, into their personal sanctuary, suspend judgment. They are making themselves vulnerable, they know perfectly well what their house looks like, they don't need you to take mental notes, or mention one single thing you find wrong or out of place, they know. For your own sake, just allow yourself to be in their space, appreciating the fact that they allowed to enter. 

Our society seems to have been overtaken with celebrity. The lifestyles, the 'stuff', the designer this and that. These things have always been considered status symbols of sorts, why, has always personally baffled me, but it is what it is. 

It does seem, though, that with the influence,and influencers of social media, with the filtres, and staged photos, it has become a lot more prevalent. It seems self-worth is becoming hinged more and more on what you own and what you can buy instead of the kind of person you are. Good deeds only count if they are on camera. It's like if you don't get the 'likes', 'follows', and 'subs' you don't count. 

Home is not a competition. It's not like whoever has the fanciest house when they die wins. Whoever has accumulated the most stuff, the most expensive stuff...

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about enjoying life. If you can afford to have the things, take the trips, by all means, you should absolutely do all of it! Do it up! All I ask is that you don't give it more import than it deserves. 

It doesn't mean you are better, smarter, more responsible, work harder, or have done everything right... it just doesn't. Some of the hardest-working, most incredible people I know call it a great day if they can pay all of their bills for the month... and have groceries. It's an even bigger deal if they have a few pennies left over to do something just for fun, that isn't absolutely necessary. 

There is a huge swath of humans who work until their bodies want to break for whom the phrase "disposable income" is a myth, a fairytale, some magical thing they can't even imagine. 

As humans, our self-worth is not attached to stuff we can buy. We are worthy because we exist. We are worthy of dignity, love, compassion and understanding. We are worthy of being warm, fed, and cared for. We are worthy of dreaming, laughing, and having fun. 

It says so much more about how our society is set up than it ever will about the majority of people for some to have the opinion that it is somehow the fault of the poor/working poor that they are poor. That somehow, they just aren't working hard enough, long enough, that that would make the difference. 

Should people have to work 70+ hours a week to cover basic needs? We are supposed to have to work to support our lives, work should never have to become our whole lives just to survive. 

Somewhere along the way, priorities became twisted. Working to live became attached to being lazy. Living to work became the sad norm. The hustle economy/mentality should be an option, not a necessity. 

If you spend every waking hour surviving, it leaves no room for dreaming, let alone space to chase those dreams. 

How did we let this happen?

Let's fix it. Our grandbabies need us to. 

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May we fix this.